Echoes of Empathy
by Camilla.33
Summary: In the age of heroes and villains, the police are often reduced to being 'the ones that arrest villains'. When All Might accepts the job at UA, he expects to find a successor. What he does not expect is to be confronted with realities about the world, and himself, that he cannot accept. Follows the anime as a background plot/window into All Might's/the teacher's personal lives.
1. Cause for Concern

_Hey everybody! I took a little time off to catch up on other non-writing projects and realized when I came back that I wasn't completely satisfied with how I was writing this story. So I've decided I'm going to edit the chapters I have up now before I continue any further! I'll leave the current chapters as they are until they're ready to be replaced, and then continue with the story when I catch up! To everybody who has been reading this story and keeps up with my posts, thank you so much for your support! Any and all reviews are appreciated and it just inspires me to keep writing knowing that there are people reading and really enjoying this story!_

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"Empathy _is about finding echoes of another person in yourself." – Mohsin Hamid_

CHAPTER 1 – CAUSE FOR CONCERN

Naomasa sighed and pushed the last of his case files aside for the night. The pile of finished paperwork swayed as he slapped the last file on, threatening to dissolve into a heap on the desk. The minor catastrophe contained itself, however, and Naomasa heaved a relieved sigh as he leaned back in his chair. The rather large pile of case files sitting on his desk was one of several cluttering his office, nearly a week's worth of paperwork lying around from an uncharacteristic bout of anxiety. He was sitting one collapse away from an avalanche of case files and incident reports. He shot another desperate look around his office, smothering the overwhelming urge to up-end some helpless piece of furniture out of sheer frustration. His partner had taken pity on him sometime around mid-morning, waltzing into his office to nab a stack of nearly week-old incident reports and leaving with a half-hearted reproach and a teasing warning about slacking.

He sat back in his chair, leaning back as far as possible to stretch his back. He hazarded a glance at the clock hanging above his office door and groaned. Twelve minutes past midnight. Feeling depleted Naomasa shuffled a few remaining papers around his desk, slapping them around impatiently before setting them aside. He pushed back from his desk, pulling open a desk drawer as he unfolded himself from his chair and snatching a small envelope from inside. Unassuming and otherwise unremarkable the envelope had arrived nearly a week ago and had, over the course of a handful of paragraphs, managed to derail the entirety of his work week. Naomasa shoved it into his pants pocket without delicacy, hoping to smother the words concealed inside and the mountain load of concerns that had come with it.

Moving across the room as quickly as he could while dodging paperwork, Naomasa shut off the lights and collected his trench coat and hat from the hook by the door. He shut off the lights with a flick of his wrist and shut the door behind him. He cringed at the sound of paper sliding and falling. Hand on the knob he forced a deep breath in through clenched teeth, resolving to deal with that monster in the morning. He made a conscious effort to loosen each finger from the doorknob without throwing a fit. Congratulating himself when he succeeded in walking away from his office without dissolving into a total meltdown. The split level that separated the detective's offices from the officer's main bullring was nothing more than glorified step running the circumference of the room. And while the desks cluttering the primary office area were more or less deserted at this hour of the night, Naomasa was not keen on losing face in front of the few junior officers still putting in late hours in the hopes of rising in the ranks.

Suppressing a yawn, Naomasa set off along the split level. He passed a handful of offices long since abandoned for the night, the silver plaque beside each door announcing their occupant's names. _Sawamura Shuzo. Futakuchi Kaito. Matsukawa Aiko. Nishikawa Yanagi_. Naomasa stopped. The door to the last office stood ajar, light spilling out from the crack along with the faint sound of pen on paper and the faint, herbal smell of tea. The sound stopped as Naomasa pushed the door open to stand in the doorframe. His partner was sitting folded over her work, pen still poised against the paper, but her eyes flickered up to his own through the curtain of her short unruly hair. A smile, halfway to a smirk twisted her lips. Naomasa registered mischief beneath the resigned exhaustion in her amber eyes. He rolled his eyes at her good-naturedly.

"Don't give me that. I've snuck up on you plenty of times."

She laughed, finishing off her current file with a fluid flick of her wrist. "Lucky for me I was just finishing up then."

Naomasa shot a doubtful look at the piles of work still littered across her desk. Her workload, unlike his, had yet to engulf the entirety of the space surrounding her desk, but he had no doubts it was only a matter of time. Not for the first time he felt a dull pang of guilt at the amount of work she was doing to make up for his own slacking. If the current situation was not testament enough to the amount of work she was taking on his behalf, the dark circles beneath her eyes and unusual paleness of her complexion did a decent job of filling in the blanks.

Nishikawa collected her thermos off the desk in a fluid motion as she stood. She moved around her office busily, tidying some of the clutter before joining him at the door. She pulled a navy police bomber-jacket from the hook and pulled it on, taking half a second to pull her dark hair from the collar and stuff her thermos halfway into a pocket. She levelled him with a flat look, flapping her hands at him when he continued to stand in the door frame. He shifted, and the two detectives stepped slowly out of the office. Nishikawa shut the door behind them, shooting him a half-mocking pleased look when nothing inside collapsed at their exit. Up close, she seemed even more exhausted; radiating tiredness in a way that was not entirely unrelated to her quirk. The guilt spiked again.

"You know, you should really work on the whole 'self-guilt-trip' thing. One of these days it'll give me a migraine."

He rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly. "You sure you're not a mind reader?"

He was met with a lazy eye-roll as she gently ushered him toward the elevator. "Believe me, I'd know. Besides, dealing with other people's emotions is plenty for me, thank you very much. Particularly your worrying. What's gotten into you lately?"

Naomasa sighed, struggling to compose his thoughts for a moment. No point in hiding his emotions from an actual empath. He waited for the elevator doors to slid shut firmly behind them, taking the opportunity to structure his thoughts into coherent phrases beyond raw worry and mild panic. He rubbed his fingers circularly into his temples, wondering at how easy it was for a single person to up-end his life.

"A good friend of mine sent me a letter recently that he'd be coming to town soon. He wouldn't say what for, but I'd wager our jobs are about to get a lot more hectic. He's supposed to have arrived sometime today actually."

Nishikawa snorted, the dark hair falling over half her face whipping up with the harsh gust of wind. "Can't say that's exactly good news, but it's not as bad as what I'd imagined given all your worrying."

He rolled his eyes. "Trust me, you'll understand my worrying when he gets here..."

Naomasa made of point of crooking his fingers in air quotes, pitching his voice a few octaves higher in a mockery of Nishikawa's voice. His partner laughed outright, pulling her jacket tighter around her shoulders as the elevator stopped on the ground floor and the door slid open quietly. They stepped off together into the stillness of the main lobby. A few officers sat dozing behind the service counter, and a middle-aged man bundled into an oversized trench coat sat uncomfortably hunched into a plastic waiting chair. The officers stirred slightly at their arrival, nodding drearily at them in greeting. The detectives returned the gesture as they crossed the lobby. The older man shifted in his seat, sighing shortly in the impatient, annoyed way of someone who wanted desperately to be elsewhere.

At the entrance, Naomasa and Nishikawa paused. Outside, the sky was overcast and threatening a deluge. Despite that, the city was as alive as ever. Workers coming off their late shifts trudged home sleepily, a few miscellaneous drunks stumbled through the streets, and further out of sight heroes patrolled keeping the city safe as people slept. Naomasa caught a faint flicker of motion on a rooftop in his periphery and turned just in time to watch a shadow disappear towards the mouth of an alley. Nishikawa caught his eye and shook her head.

"Eraserhead. We should probably just hurry up and go home before we get dragged into writing up more incident reports."

They pushed open the doors, stepping out into the night air together. The wind was whistling through the streets, strong and forceful enough to push through jackets and rob those unfortunate enough to be outside of what warmth they had. Naomasa checked his watch out of habit, knowing full well that he had already missed the last train. Sighing, he pulled out his phone to call a cab. Beside him, Nishikawa offered him a tired wave as she wandered away down the street. He returned the gesture, looking up from his phone to see her off. He waited until she disappeared around a corner before returning his attention to his phone. Behind him, the police station doors opened, and the old man hurried out in a huff. He knocked shoulders with Naomasa as he passed. The detective turned to say something but stopped short and turned back to the road with a dismissive shrug. The man disappeared into the night, just another blurred interaction in his sleep-deprived mind.

. . . . .

Nishikawa yawned as she wandered down the street toward her apartment. Despite the late hour, the city was alive with people and Nishikawa felt the dull hum of her quirk like pressure in her eardrums. Her apartment was close enough to the station. Not a short distance, but close enough that the prospect of walking was a welcome chance to stretch her legs after a full day behind a desk. She stifled another yawn. The dull pulse of her quirk was quickly transforming into a full-blown headache. She grimaced, rubbing the heel of her palm into her temple. Ahead, the glowing neon sign of a convenience store beckoned. She ducked into the store, making a beeline for the coolers on the back wall.

Automatically, her quirk zeroed in on the other occupants of the store. The clerk was a middle-aged man, with skin an oddly matte shade of green; like a cartoon-colored in with crayon. Half-asleep at the counter, he raised his head slightly in what might have been a nod or a sleepy attempt at attentiveness. His emotional feedback was just as weak; sluggish and dazed with sleep so that Nishikawa was left feeling like she was chewing a mouthful of molasses. The other occupant of the store was completely different. Tall but stooped, with a wild mane of blond hair and skin stretched taut over bone, he loomed over the shelves in the store like a sunflower grim-reaper. His presence was a constant thrum at the back of Nishikawa's mind; a baseline of goodwill smothered beneath bone-deep exhaustion and sad resignation. She considered him distractedly in the reflection in the cooler glass. Shaking her head, she swung the door open tiredly and plucked an iced-coffee from a lower shelf praying the caffeine would give her enough energy to wrangle her quirk back into submission.

She paid for her drink, feeling the dull hum of the clerk's boredom leech into her through proximity. She clamped down on the creeping invasion of emotion and hurried toward the door. Behind her the skeleton man sighed heavily, coming sharply back into focus in her mind with a spike of exhaustion. He made his way toward the door and Nishikawa stopped to hold the door for him. He slid past her out the door with a grateful nod of his head just as another figure materialized out of the darkness. Swathed in a baggy black jacket, hood raised over their eyes, the figure marched past the pair into the store. Nishikawa, tired and sluggish from a combination of exhaustion both foreign and her own, was a half second too slow squeeze out of the way as the man stormed past. Her quirk leapt to the forefront as their shoulders knocked. Her perception blurred slightly around the edges as the stranger's emotions punched her in the gut; determination tamped down beneath desperation and fear. Nishikawa felt it like a cold shock in her jaw. Felt her muscles clench with frustration not her own.

She turned, watched the stranger storm into the shop, felt her body's rhythm change to the flow of foreign emotion. The mugger was standing level with the cashier now. Nishikawa felt her gut clench. She watched the scene in what felt like slow motion, the feedback loop of intention and emotion twisting her perception. The shopkeeper glanced up at the same time as the other man pulled one of his hands from his jacket pocket. Nishikawa felt the cashier's panic like the sudden onslaught of a migraine as the mugger's hand raised level with his face, fingers twisting together until his hand had warped into the deformed shape of a gun. Faintly, as though through deep water Nishikawa heard the click of the mugger's firearm preparing to fire. Her mind snapped back to the present. She lurched forward back into the shop with a yell.

The mugger turned, startled. Nishikawa ducked sideways out of the way as his gun-hand fired blindly. The cashier ducked beneath the counter, shielding himself with his arms. Relieved, Nishikawa turned her full attention back to the would-be-mugger. The man's attention was now riveted to her as he realized his odds had just shifted. Nishikawa winced as a spike of frustration and anger rocketed through his body. Nishikawa had a moment to wonder at the unnaturally fierce shift in emotion before he lunged. She twisted fluidly out of the way, narrowly dodging an arm-now-a-dagger as it swung by her face. She stepped backwards and sideways smoothly. Her assailant followed with wide, clumsy sweeps of his weapon arm. She ducked under a particularly aggressive swing, catching his elbow as it passed over her head. With a smooth twist of his arm, she unbalanced her attacker, sending him stumbling away. He caught himself against a shelf, knocking half an aisle of potato chips and candies to the ground. He lurched toward Nishikawa with an animalistic snarl. Startled, she twisted out of the way a second time, shoving the man firmly in the back with one palm as he went past her. Too late she realized the man was falling too close to her body.

She felt her feet go out from beneath her as the man tumbled away. She threw her weight sideways, rolling away from the general direction the man had fallen. Her back collided with the corner of a shelf, and she winced as the edge bit into the soft flesh beneath her shoulder blade. Nishikawa pushed up quickly, propping herself on her forearms and readying to jump away. She stilled halfway through the movement, staring dumbstruck at the sight before her. A giant of a man was standing between her and the would-be thief, who was on the floor one arm twisted behind his back. He squirmed futilely where he was pinned beneath one of the stranger's hands. She had a moment to take him in; a tower of pure muscle, before the ridiculous signature blonde hair came into focus as he turned to address her with his trademark grin. She stared back from the floor, mind reeling as she struggled to process the information whirling in her head.

"…All… Might…?"

The next moment the shop's front door was flung open and several police officers rushed in weapons raised. They processed the situation quickly, and a moment later they dispersed into a well-practiced routine. Two men stepped forward to cuff the attacker and cart him away, while two others approached the counter to speak with the still cowering shopkeeper. Two others walked forward to debrief the hero looking more than a little starstruck as he turned the full force of his megawatt smile on them. Nishikawa blinked as a hand came into view in front of her face. She glanced up the outstretched arm, into the face of a junior officer she vaguely recognized. She took the offered hand gingerly and let the younger officer haul her to her feet. She dusted some dirt from the back of her pants as she straightened, taking in the damage to the shop with a sweeping glance. When her eyes landed back on the officer nearest her she offered him an appreciative nod. He saluted stiffly, and she laughed.

"No need for that with me. Unless the Chief's around."

The man fumbled awkwardly. "Oh-…O-of Course. Yes, ma'am."

Nishikawa snorted again. "Remind me what your name was again? Sorry, I'm sort of terrible for that… Faces stick but names, not so much."

"Himuro Taketora, ma'am."

"Well, thank you Himuro. I'm assuming the shopkeeper hit the panic button?"

The other police officer nodded. "We got the alert and rushed straight over. Not what I expected on my first night shift, but I suppose as far as the big city goes this is pretty tame."

Nishikawa smiled reassuringly. "You'd be surprised. This city's usually quiet, what with UA and all the pro heroes in the area."

She was about to say more when a sudden spike of panic drew her attention away. The shopkeeper was still huddled behind the counter, shielding his face and breathing heavily. His oddly matte skin slowly turning an alarmingly dark violet. She offered the younger officer a tight, apologetic smile as she stepped past him in the direction of the counter. The clerk's near-manic distress thrummed steadily beneath her skin like a second heartbeat. Quietly, she signalled for the other officers to step away. It took a few minutes to coax the clerk into standing and shuffling to the back room, and even longer before he accepted the cup of water she offered from the small tap at the back of the room. He slumped, boneless into a stool near the door, hands fidgeting around the plastic cup. Nishikawa pulled a stool up across from him, smiling gently as he shifted nervously in his seat. The remains of his abrupt adrenaline rush sent tremors through his frame as he sat folded in on himself. Nishikawa offered him an apologetic smile, shifting into what she hoped was a non-threatening position.

"I know that must have been a terrible experience for you, but if you can manage it I'd like you to walk me through what happened from your point of view."

The man fidgeted some more, before downing the entire glass in one go. Nishikawa gently took the cup from his trembling fingers and stood to refill the cup. He drank deeply again the moment the cup returned to his hands. After his second drink, he seemed more settled. His skin was beginning to settle back into its unnatural matte tone, though it settled somewhere between amber and grey instead of returning to the strange green she remembered from before the assault. Nishikawa offered him an encouraging smile. He sucked in a deep breath before beginning.

"I-I don't really know… One second it was dead quiet, the next some man is pointing a weapon at me!"

"You've never seen this man before? Any chance there was a motive here beyond simple theft?"

The clerk shook his head. "He might have been in before. We don't really have regulars here."

"And you have no reason to believe this was a personal attack?"

She had phrased the question carefully, but the colour drained back out of his skin almost immediately. It edged closer to violet then. Nishikawa offered a placating gesture with her hands and back-pedalled as best she could.

"We don't have any reason to believe it was a personal attack at the moment, sir. But we need to cover all our bases before launching a full investigation."

This seemed to calm the man marginally. He shook his head slowly, tiredly. "I have no reason to think this was about me, no."

Nishikawa nodded gently. "Alright then. That's all we need for now. Most likely officers will be in touch in the morning for any details they feel are pertinent. I think you should consider closing early and getting some rest. You're looking… well, purple."

The clerk shook himself, shaking his whole body against the idea. "No, no I'll be alright."

She watched him dubiously. "Are you sure? I can ask an officer to stay with you a little longer if you need."

"No! No, I'm fine. This is natural for me. My quirk makes my skin act as a mood ring."

Nishikawa nodded carefully, still watching the shopkeeper carefully. Through the small door leading out into the store, Nishikawa could just see officers not occupied with the suspect gathering by the door. All Might stood a few paces away, studiously replacing the junk food that had fallen from the shelves. She stored that odd detail away for later, turning back to the shopkeeper carefully. She leaned over carefully to offer her hand palm up, manoeuvring so her back was to the door and shielding the interaction.

"If you insist on keeping your store open, at the very least let me help."

He shot her a confused look and she continued quietly, "My quirk is empathy, I can sense and influence emotions. If you'll allow it, I'd like to calm you down enough that you don't go into shock. But only if that's alright with you."

He shot her a sudden, guarded glance. Nishikawa tried not to let her friendly, unassuming smile falter as he edged his entire body away from her. "Can't you just do that without touching me?"

She shrugged gently, struggling with her smile. "I could, but that seems kind of invasive to me. I'll only do this with your permission."

His face went through a range of emotions, wrestling with himself before he seemed to steel himself and dropped his hand into her open palm. Nishikawa blinked, steadying herself as his emotions whirled into full focus. She took a moment to take stock of his mental state before carefully sifting through his emotions. She pulled the residual calm from before the attack back to the forefront of his mind, carefully dulling the intensity of his panic and distress. A moment later she watched his shoulders relax as the tension drained from his body. The next moment he stood, offering her a polite smile as he moved to set his cup back near the sink. She took that as her cue to leave and stood as well. The other officers and hero followed her out of the store and into the street. Outside the wind had picked up, and she struggled to yank her hair away from her face long enough to have a normal conversation with the officers.

"You can leave the paperwork on my desk, I'll fill in my bits when I get in tomorrow morning."

The officers nodded, stepping into the waiting cruisers. Himuro offered her a friendly bob of his head as he moved past her.

"I hope the rest of your night is less eventful."

Nishikawa laughed. "So do I."

When the cruisers drove off, she turned to face the hero still standing awkwardly in the street. "Thank you for stepping in. I'm glad that was resolved before things got out of hand."

"No problem! After all, it is my duty to help!"

She jerked, startled and a little put off by the sudden loudness of his voice despite talking to a person less than two feet away from him. "Well thank you anyway. I hope the rest of your night is a peaceful one."

She made to step away, but he stopped her with an awkward gesture. She blinked, waiting.

"How did you know?"

Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Sorry, I don't follow…"

"The mugger. How did you know? You reacted almost before he pulled his weapon… or quirk, I suppose."

Nishikawa tensed, unpleasantly aware of how the next few minutes would go. With a resigned sigh, she pulled one hand from her pocket and motioned vaguely at her own head.

"I'm an empath. I'm usually pretty good at blocking other people's emotions but he knocked into me on his way in."

All Might's face morphed quickly from curiosity to understanding, to a strange kind of furtive paranoia. She might have found it funny. This mountain of a man able to take on the worst of the worse looking hunted at the prospect of her quirk, but the reality that this was how people, even the Symbol of Peace, would always view her was a heavy one. Even without her ability, the sudden suspiciousness radiating off his person was palpable. His smile never faltered, and she admired the effort he put into politeness, but it suddenly seemed more strained and Nishikawa shifted uncomfortably. Electing to save whatever dignity she might have, she offered the hero one final half-hearted smile. She bid him a good night before ducking her head and marching off quickly without looking back. She refused to stop, or even think until the door to her apartment was safely shut behind her.

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Let me know what you think!


	2. Sound the Alarm

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CHAPTER 2 – SOUND THE ALARM

"So… that friend of yours wouldn't happen to be All Might would it?"

Naomasa choked on his coffee as he inhaled sharply in surprise. He set his mug down, shooting a baleful look in the direction of his guest. Nishikawa stood in the doorway leaning against the frame casually. She stepped into the room and shut the door gently behind her. He watched her as she pulled a small packet of tissues out of her pockets and chucked it at his head. He caught it a moment before it smacked into his nose and shot her another not-so-convincing glare. He dabbed at his face distractedly as she shuffled further into the room and dropped onto his couch.

"Sorry… forgot you startle like a goat."

His mock glare returned full force. "I do not." And then, as an afterthought catching the clock out of the corner of his eye, "You're late."

"There was an issue with a bag snatcher at the train station. I took a detour on my way in."

"Of course you did."

His partner shrugged playfully spreading her arms out in a helpless gesture. Naomasa frowned as he registered the black gloves on her hands; a half-assed attempt to reassure people that she was not actively fishing through their heads. Years ago, when they were first introduced as partners, she never went anywhere without them. The Chief had refused to explain the strange habit, but a few months into their association Naomasa had already witnessed the problem first-hand more times than he could stomach. With time their friendship had solidified, and he had managed to convince her that hiding was useless if not totally unnecessary. Or so he thought. He shook himself back into the present. He watched as she settled further into the plush couch, worming her shoulders down between two cushions. He settled behind his desk, pulling a stack of work towards him in an attempt at nonchalance.

"So what started your theory about my friend?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I'm good at my job?" He levelled an annoyed look at her and she continued with a strained smile. "I ran into him yesterday on my way home. If he'd been in the city for more than a day everyone would have known about it, and you mentioned your friend arriving sometime yesterday. Plus, who else could possibly make our jobs more hectic, realistically speaking."

He nodded slowly. "I take it the incident at the convenience store?"

"That'd be the one. I'm a little disappointed, to be honest, you'd think the Symbol of Peace wouldn't be a prejudiced jerk. But then I guess Endeavour can't be an isolated case of soulless glory hunting."

Naomasa frowned. "Did something happen?" And then, "And leave Endeavour alone. I don't have the kind of firepower necessary to pry you out of that kind of fight."

She sighed dramatically. "Nothing I'm not used to. He asked about my quirk then got real uncomfortable when I told him."

"Is that why you're wearing your gloves again?"

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "You noticed that, huh?"

"Of course I did, I've known you, what? Three years now? Four?" She shrugged, and he continued without pausing. "Long enough, is my point. I'm sorry he made you uncomfortable, he's normally Mr Do-Good."

She laughed, pushing to her feet. She eyed the stack of papers on his desk as he pulled a file from the top and busied himself with it, only half paying attention. It was smaller than the workload he had had the past few days, with the Trigger case more or less set aside until new leads arose, but Nishikawa still wondered if he would manage it all by the end of the day. Not that she was in any position to judge. Thinking of the monstrous pile of work sitting on her desk, some left over from the day before, she winced and made to excuse herself. She stopped with one foot in the doorway, shooting him a playful glance over her shoulder as he glanced at her curiously.

"You were right by the way." His brows furrowed in confusion and she laughed a little as she continued. "I totally get the worrying now."

He rolled his eyes. "Get back to work, if I remember correctly you had a decent load to get through."

She snorted. "And who's fault is that?"

They both laughed and she excused herself, marching over to her office and shutting the door behind her to avoid distractions. She prayed for a relatively uneventful day to work through the ridiculous stack of case files. She settled in to work, fully expecting not to move until the end of the day.

. . . . .

The day passed slowly, relatively uneventful in the wake of the morning's excitement, and the hours droned by monotonously with each case file she completed. By mid-afternoon, Nishikawa had made decent headway. She pushed back from her desk with an audible groan and stretched out, popping her back as the door to her office creaked open softly. Naomasa poked his head in with a grin, behind him she could just make out a floppy head of brown hair peering around him. He pushed his way fully into her office when he noticed her reclining in her chair. Behind him, his companion came into view; Tanaka Kurosawa, the junior detective in the office adjacent Naomasa's. Nishikawa felt her concentration evaporate as her partner and the station's troublemaker stepped in.

"Did we catch you on a break?"

She nodded. "First one I've taken all day."

From the doorway, Kurosawa's eyes swept the desk and the expression on his face morphed into surprise. "That's quite a bit of headway you've made."

Nishikawa glanced at the pile of completed folders. "Yeah, thankfully the day's been slow. I doubt that will last though."

Naomasa interjected cheerfully. "Then we should grab lunch now while we can."

Nishikawa agreed lightly, rising from her desk to meet them at the door, opting to leave her jacket where it was. Outside, the morning's chill had faded into the warm sunny afternoon typical to the time of year, all evidence of the storm the night before gone. They wandered into a ramen parlour a few buildings down from the station, situating themselves in a booth by the window and chatting idly while they waited for their meals to arrive. Their food arrived, and conversation slowed almost to nothing as they each tucked into the meals heartily. As they approached the end of their respective dishes conversation resumed, and Nishikawa found herself sighing at the inevitable turn it took.

"The whole station's buzzing about your run-in with All Might yesterday." Kurosawa said between mouthfuls.

He had obviously been waiting for the chance to bring it up, as Naomasa elbowed him sharply causing broth to slosh from Kurosawa's raised spoon into his lap. Nishikawa laughed as the two exchanged bitter glances.

"It's fine. I figured it would come up eventually. It's not every day you meet the number one hero."

Kurosawa looked triumphant. "Exactly! So? What's he like?"

She shrugged, trying to look nonchalant as she stirred her ramen around looking for any meat left. "He's… pretty much what you'd expect. A mountain of a man with very little volume control."

Naomasa snorted into his broth, splashing some of it back up into his face. He dabbed at his face with his napkin, trying to smother the snigger still fighting its way up from his chest. Kurosawa looked nonplused.

"I meant as a person. You of all people should be able to give a definitive answer about the guy."

"You know I try not to do that to people."

Kurosawa's face looked sceptical. "And you managed to resist when it was a **celebrity**? Not even just a celebrity but **the** celebrity of the decade?"

Nishikawa's mouth twisted with mischief and she leaned back away from the table. "It's called self-control. You should try it sometime."

Naomasa's soup broth exploded out of his bowl a second time as he erupted into full-on laughter. Kurosawa's face had stayed carefully neutral at the comment, but the pink slowly rising on his face and ears gave him away.

"Anyway," Nishikawa continued once the giggling had died down, "you'll have plenty of opportunities to make your own impression. He's in the city, after all, he's bound to cause a stir somewhere."

Naomasa made a sound of agreement in his throat as he swallowed down the last of his soup. "Honestly, I'm surprised nothing's happened yet today."

As if on cue, Nishikawa's phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out, watching Naomasa mirror her actions as he pulled his own phone out. Kurosawa watched them idly, eyebrows raised as he watched them both open their texts and visibly deflate. He nodded at Nishikawa's phone when she looked up.

"Something happen?"

She shot Naomasa an accusing glance. "Yeah, All Might and some sludge villain."

Kurosawa chuckled at the baleful glance Nishikawa was throwing at her partner. "You guys head on out then. I've got the tab."

Naomasa, who was already sliding out of his seat, shot him a worried glance. "You sure?"

Kurosawa waved them off. "Yeah. Tell you what, next time you can treat me."

The two thanked him, and he watched them go with amusement. He could hear them bickering as they made their way to the door. He barely caught Nishikawa's comment about 'jinxing them' before the door swung shut behind the duo and they stepped out into the street. He watched through the window as they made their way back to the station to claim a cruiser.

. . . . .

By the time they arrived on the scene All Might and the sludge villain had both disappeared. The officers on site informed them that the villain had fled with All Might in pursuit, but no one knew of their current whereabouts. Nishikawa pretended not to notice Naomasa's face tense up, or feel the sudden spike of worry that shot through his system. She sent the officer away with orders to get as many witness reports as possible and ensure any and all injuries were attended. She waited until he was well out of earshot before turning to her partner with a reproachful look. He feigned innocence, scanning the scene for the seventh or eighth time.

"I'm not going to ask what you're so worried about. Clearly you know something I don't, and that's fine. Just promise me it isn't putting someone in danger right now."

"Heroes are always putting themselves in danger."

Nishikawa shot him a flat look. "You know what I meant."

Naomasa sighed but nodded, still looking around the scene as though waiting for All Might to jump out from around the corner with the villain in hand. Nothing appeared, however, and the two spent the next few hours sorting through dozens of witness reports and coordinating the other officers on the scene. Nishikawa was beginning to feel anxious, as the time elapsed crept up on nearly three hours with still no sign of the villain or the hero. Her head snapped up as an explosion erupted in the distance, the mushroom cloud of debris visible over the buildings. She refreshed the police feed on her phone several times, hoping for an update until eventually, news arrived. She went pale as she read the hastily formulated update, yanking Naomasa into the cruiser and giving him hasty directions before even bothering to explain herself. When they were well on their way Naomasa finally shot her an expectant look.

"Well? You going to tell me what the update was?"

"The villain reappeared across town in a shopping district. Apparently, he took some kid with an explosion quirk hostage. It's a mess. There are heroes on sight, but they can't do much with the kid in the way."

She felt the cruiser lurch as Naomasa pushed his foot down a little harder. He looked more worried than she'd ever seen him, and she had to fight down the nausea that rolled in her stomach from his own anxiety. Somewhere in both their minds, they wondered where All Might had gone. It only took them a few more minutes to arrive at the scene, by which point the place was surrounded by curious bystanders.

Stepping out of the cruiser, Nishikawa took stock of the situation. A handful of heroes had shown up but had been forced to back off, stationing themselves on either end of the alley where the villain was. Mount Lady, Kamui Woods and Death Arms were busy trying to keep civilians at a safe distance, while Backdraft worked to contain the flames. She could still hear explosions going off, small enough that they drew the concerned crowd in closer instead of frightening them away. Distantly, she noted Naomasa moving off to the other end of the alley. Nishikawa pushed through the crowd, trying hard not to elbow anyone as she wormed her way through. It was difficult, with so many people pressing in to get a better look, and more than once she stumbled into someone as she squeezed through the press of bodies.

She was nearly to the front of the crowd when she felt an elbow dig sharply into her rib cage, sending her staggering into a light post. She huffed, annoyed, but offered a small 'thank you' as she felt someone steady her from behind. She blinked in surprise when she straightened, recognizing the skeleton man from the convenience store. 'Stronger than he looks' she thought grimly, offering him another brief thanks. The nervous look on his face remained as he nodded shortly, and she turned back to the situation at hand.

By the time she managed to force her way to the front, the situation had barely changed at all. Out in the centre of the alley, the villain's slime body was writhing around as the form of a middle school boy struggled in his grasp. He was struggling less now than before, the explosion dying off as, she assumed, exhaustion took over. She turned to one of the heroes closest to her, Kamui Woods, to try and get a clearer sense of the situation but was distracted when the sludge around the boy cleared enough for everyone to get a clear look at his face. She felt her quirk buzz at the back of her skull and vaguely registered the pleading look on his face as the emotions filtered into her mind. Fear and anger settled in her bones, harsh enough to leave them feeling brittle and hollow. Her jaw clenched against a scream.

The next moment, before anyone could fully register what was happening, another middle school boy had flung himself from the crowd and raced towards the villain. The heroes beside her lurched forward to try and grab him, missing narrowly as his small form raced past, pivoting and throwing his backpack as a distraction to get in close. She could see him clawing at the villain futilely, realized that he was talking but could not hear the words over the pounding in her ears, and felt her adrenaline kick into overdrive as the villain aimed a blow at the boy. She moved to run after him, felt Kamui Woods and Death Arms both do the same, but froze in the next moment when a familiar form appeared from nowhere between the boy and the villain.

She staggered to a halt. She caught a glimpse of Naomasa across the alley frantically waving for her to get back, and the next moment the updraft from All Might's punch sent her stumbling backwards. Around her, the heroes protected the civilians from the air pressure as best they could. When the wind finally subsided, there was a moment of surprised stillness, before it began to rain and the people around her erupted into awed exclamations. Nishikawa pushed herself to her feet, running over to where All Might had set the boys down. She checked them over carefully, Naomasa jogged over from the other side and struck up a conversation with the hero. From where she was crouched with boys, she could only just make out the tone of his voice, realizing quickly that he was lecturing the hero.

She snorted, turning her attention back to the two victims. When she was sure both boys were relatively unharmed, she stood up to usher over the other first responders who were still crowding around the alley's entrances. The heroes, who had disappeared quickly to gather the sludge, reappeared with dozens of bags, and Nishikawa set about helping the other officers load them into the back of a van. Naomasa joined her as reporters flooded into the alley as well, circling around All Might and kicking up a racket.

"What was that about?"

Naomasa flushed. "Just reminding him not to be reckless."

Nishikawa raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be telling him that?"

She pointed with her chin at the boy with messy green hair who had run into the line of fire. He was already surrounded by several officers, as well as a couple of heroes, all talking over each other as they admonished him for his actions. Naomasa rolled his eyes.

"I think he's getting quite enough of that without my input."

Nishikawa smiled lightly. Eventually, the two went back to the alley entrances and went about collecting witness statements from the onlookers that still lingered and the heroes still helping with clean up on the scene. No one tried to breach the ring of reporters surrounding All Might, and Nishikawa hoped her partner's connection to the hero would prevent them from having to explain to the chief why the main hero involved had been excluded from their report. She was just finishing up with the last witness when the green haired boy wandered past her looking satisfied but glum. She thanked the witness hastily and jogged to catch up with him.

"Hey! Kid!"

He stopped, looking frantically around himself like he was expecting someone else to appear on the near vacant street.

"I'm talking to you, messy hair."

"U-uh… O-o-oh, I've already been told off and I should really be getting home?"

She laughed when his sentence stumbled out as a question. "That's fine, I'm not going to tell you off again. I just figured someone should tell you that what you did was brave. It was stupid, ridiculously stupid, don't get me wrong, but it came from a good place and I don't want you to forget that."

He looked startled and mortified all at once. "T-t-thank you."

She smiled. "Anyway, you should get home. Your mom will be worried, you were on the news after all." She turned to walk back, calling over her shoulder. "Stay safe kid!"

Nishikawa wandered back to the cruiser, leaning against the hood. Across the alley, she could see Naomasa talking to one last witness. Backdraft and Death Arms were still assisting with clean up at one end of the alley, while Mount Lady and Kamui Woods worked at the other end. At the heart of the scene, All Might stood still surrounded by reporters. The sun was slowly beginning to set, and Nishikawa wondered how many questions they could possibly have about one incident, but she supposed they were probably only using the incident as an excuse to interview him. Naomasa finished up with his witness and jogged over, glancing back over his shoulder when he noticed his partner's distracted look. He slowed to a stop in front of her, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"Not fawning over him already, are you? You were calling him a bigot this morning."

Nishikawa sent him a flat look. "I was wondering how long they plan to keep mobbing him. It's been hours already."

"Believe me, this can go on for ages."

Nishikawa shook her head, mind wandering back to the events of the afternoon. "Is he always so… much? He might level the city if we have an incident like this every day."

Naomasa laughed. "I did warn you."

Nishikawa turned to the passenger door, pulling it open and glancing into the alley over the roof of the car. "…How long did you say he was staying for?"

* * *

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Feedback is always welcome!


	3. Handle With Care

CHAPTER 3 – HANDLE WITH CARE

"FOUR YEARS?!"

Naomasa wilted into his chair. No doubt he'd startled a good few of the officers in the bullring with his outburst. He watched the Symbol of Peace fidget like a child in the sofa across the room and rubbed his temples as he felt a headache coming on. The sludge villain incident the day before had been more than enough for a lifetime of worrying, yet he somehow was now supposed to deal with four years of All Might induced over-time. He sighed again, and his phone vibrated against his desk.

YOU ALRIGHT? THAT WAS LOUD. – N.

He typed back a hasty reply, before shoving his phone into a desk drawer and sliding it shut harshly. All Might watched him from across the room, looking somewhat apologetic in his frail true form. Naomasa struggled to divide his attention to avoid another outburst and settled on flipping through the completed report on the sludge villain. He would turn it in later when Yagi left, and try to avoid the flood of questions that would no doubt come from having the number one hero sitting in his office all morning. Some small part of his brain had been glad for the excuse to keep him off the street; to minimize his new workload as All Might's report manager, and minimize the amount of worrying he would need to do over the man's health. Naomasa almost sighed again as he realized he would need to leave soon, which meant a decent portion of the day in which Yagi would be left to his own devices.

Idly, the detective wondered why he was even still there at all, with the last of the report completed and his questions answered. Yagi had made it very clear he needed to be elsewhere today. As it turns out, however, he did not need to wait long for an answer. While he was fiddling with the report, Yagi had seemingly steeled himself. He had been wrestling with something the entire debriefing, Naomasa could read it in his face like he was saying it out loud, but had so far kept silent.

"The woman in the office by the elevator…"

Naomasa raised an eyebrow. This had not been the topic he was expecting. "Nishikawa? She's my partner. Think's you're a bigot, by the way."

Yagi, who had opened his mouth to continue, visibly baulked. "…E-eh?"

"Said you got all judgemental about her quirk. She was not impressed."

The hero cleared his throat awkwardly. "I suppose that may be a good thing."

Naomasa's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "A good thing."

But Yagi was no longer listening. He pressed a hand to his chin, muttering aloud as his brain worked a mile a minute.

"She won't want to be anywhere near me if she thinks I'm a bigot… Reduces the chances of her figuring out my secret… Definitely the best course of action…"

Naomasa blinked at him. "Wait… what are you talking about?"

Yagi looked up and met his eyes. "If she thinks All Might is a bigot she won't want to deal with him. Which reduces how much she'll have to interact with me. This is good. She might not figure it out after all."

"That's what this is about? It hardly matters how much she interacts with you, it's not like she'll ever see you in this form."

"She already has. I was at the convenience store before that mugger walked in. And she bumped into me in my true form yesterday at the shopping district."

Naomasa shot his friend a flat look. "Well I hate to burst your bubble, but she's a professional. She's not going to avoid you just because she thinks All Might is an all mighty ass."

Yagi visibly deflated. "Then what do I do?"

Naomasa sat back in his chair, pushing the file in front of him aside to consider his friend. This was obviously something that would bother him, ceaselessly, until the situation came to some definitive conclusion either way. Still, Naomasa found it hard to doubt his partner's good intentions.

"Honestly? Just leave it alone. If she figures it out or suspects anything she'll talk to me about it before anyone else. She'd keep the secret too, she's a professional."

Yagi shot him a dubious look and Naomasa continued relentlessly. "We're both detectives. We work together all the time. And you trust me, so why not her?"

"I don't know her."

"Well, I do. There isn't an officer in this station who would out you."

"I'm not doubting the professionalism of your coworkers."

Naomasa shot him a doubtful look and Yagi sank away from the glance but held his ground.

"It's not about professionalism. You are one of the only people who know the real nature of my condition, and that's because we're friends. Not because you're a cop."

"Then just be friends with her."

Yagi shifted uncomfortably, and Naomasa came to an abrupt, unwelcome conclusion. The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth and he shifted to regard the hero more critically as he sat stooped over on his couch. He looked for a moment like he was trying to disappear into his overly large t-shirt, but the next moment it had disappeared into his usual awkward mannerisms.

"Is this actually about her quirk?"

Yagi met his gaze, shame-faced but determined. "Quirks like that are historically prone to… unbalance."

Naomasa starred him down, deadpan. "Unbalance."

"Spend too much time in another's mind and you begin to lose touch with your own."

Trying hard not to lose his temper, Naomasa carefully folded his hands over his chest and leaned back into his chair. He was quickly beginning to wonder at the soundness of a plan involving locking the two in a room together for several hours. Secrets and hurt feelings did nothing to help him manage his worry. He remembered the way Nishikawa had reverted to her careful mannerisms barely a day after their initial meeting, thought the distant woman he had met almost four years prior. He settled on the vaguest reply he could manage.

"Listen, she knows about the risks of her own quirk." He held up a hand to stop the interruption as he saw it rise on the hero's face. "No. Listen. She **knows**. Better than anyone, believe me. That's why she's so careful about using her quirk actively. Okay?"

Still seeming unconvinced, Yagi nodded slowly. "That doesn't answer the question of what to do."

"I'll figure something out. In the meantime, don't go acting like a jerk on purpose. You'll do more harm than good."

With that, Naomasa stood. Walking out from behind his desk to escort his friend out and deliver the completed report. He waited until Yagi transformed into his hero form before yanking the door open and walking the man to the elevator. He dropped this file off quickly in the chief's office, and made a beeline for his office door, walking a little faster than normal to evade the curious glances of the other officers on duty. Once safely back in his office, he shut the door behind him and let out a sigh. Grateful to be away from the gossip he turned to head back to his desk and nearly jumped out of his skin, hitting the doorknob with his hip and cursing quietly.

"Told you, you startle like a goat."

Nishikawa sat sprawled across the couch, ankles up and resting on the armrest while she reclined against the opposite end. She had a file open in her lap, her pen moving steadily across the page as she barely looked up to offer him an apologetic smile. Naomasa glared without any heat and walked over to his desk.

"What are you doing?"

She shrugged. "Paperwork. Which is what you should have been doing all morning, but you had a celebrity over."

Naomasa sank into his seat, pulling a heavy file from the top of the stack on his desk and sulkily getting to work. He got halfway down the first page of the report before realizing his pile was significantly smaller than it had been. Looking up, he found the other half of his paperwork stacked on the floor beside Nishikawa's hip. He sighed.

"You don't have to do that."

She shrugged good-naturedly. "It's fine. You can pay me in gossip. Besides I finished my work ages ago. You do realize it's well past lunchtime already?"

Naomasa blinked, glancing at his watch for the first time that day. He groaned and dropped his head onto his desk with a dull thud; nearly four thirty and nothing accomplished but one report. He chanced another glance at his partner, sitting leisurely on his couch and steadily working her way through another report.

"Thank you."

She waved him off without looking up. "Never mind that. What's the scoop on Mr Red-White-and-Blue?

Naomasa sighed, feeling a headache pound behind his eyes just at the thought of it. "Four years. Give or take."

Nishikawa visibly stiffened and Naomasa laughed slightly. She shot him a can-you-blame-me look, pushing her hair back away from her face and tucking her pen behind her ear as she twisted in her seat to sit properly. Faced suddenly with the full attention of her amber eyes, Naomasa shifted slightly in his seat.

"Any particular reason he's so intent on staying?"

He relaxed. No big secret to spill here. "He wouldn't say. Said he couldn't tell a soul until the official announcement was made."

"Well, that's helpful."

Nishikawa slumped back into her original position, dropping the file in her lap to the floor and pulling a new one into its place. They sat in complete silence for a while after that, the steady scribbling of pens the only noise in the stillness. Naomasa made decent headway, clearing through half his remaining pile while Nishikawa worked steadily away on the couch. Eventually, however, her scribbling slowed audibly, and Naomasa set the file he had just completed aside to stare at her. She stubbornly kept working, her hand slowing to a snail's pace though she pretended to be hard at work.

"What?"

Nishikawa glanced at him furtively from the corner of her eye. "Was it actually about my quirk?"

Thrown for a loop Naomasa just stared. "Um… What?"

Giving up all pretence of work, Nishikawa sighed. Placing both hands flat against the file and fiddling with the pages. "The whole… suspicious bullshit with the mugger."

Naomasa sighed, his parting words to the hero ringing clearly in his head. 'You'll do more harm than good' he'd said. Apparently, he already had.

"Everyone has secrets. A guy like that's got some pretty big ones. It was a knee-jerk reaction."

She nodded unhappily but offered him a smile either way. "So just a bigot then."

Naomasa made to say something else, but she had already turned back to her work; scribbling more fervently than ever as she powered through a decent chunk of his workload. He checked his watch again; quarter to six. The stack of unfinished work on his desk had dwindled to a measly three files, and a glance in his partner's direction showed Nishikawa to be on her second to the last file.

"Why don't we grab dinner after we're done here?"

Nishikawa looked up startled, before quickly shifting to discomfort. "You don't have to do that."

He gave her an innocent look. "Do what? I'm just cashing in on that food you owe me from last week. Haven't eaten all day, remember?"

. . . . . . .

A little over an hour later, they settled into a window booth at a fast food restaurant down the street from the station. Kurosawa, who had been delivering more files to their offices as they were finishing up, had joined them with virtually no prompting, happy for an excuse to leave the office and take a break. Now, sitting across from him in the small restaurant, Nishikawa almost regretted the decision to invite him. Kurosawa was an attractive man in his mid-twenties, with a bright career ahead of him and a smile to match. Unfortunately for her wallet, he also ate like one. Nishikawa eyed his three burgers and large fries dubiously, stirring her own fries around on her tray and she sucked on her milkshake.

"Are you… actually going to finish that?"

Kurosawa looked insulted at the simple insinuation, and Nishikawa hurried to hold her hands up placatingly. "Just saying…"

"Growing men need fuel to keep them going."

Naomasa made a sound as he slapped a napkin into the younger man's face. "Swallow what's in your mouth before talking, jeez… And you're like twenty-something. You're not growing anymore."

Kurosawa glanced jokingly at him down his nose, even sitting he was a good head taller. "Just because you stopped growing in middle school, doesn't mean the rest of us did."

Nishikawa choked on her milkshake as Naomasa dug an elbow hard into Kurosawa's side. The younger man wheezed, and Nishikawa ducked just in time to avoid getting sprayed with half-chewed lettuce. Kurosawa swallowed the remaining food in his mouth and turned to contemplate the bits now decorating the seat opposite him.

"Man, what a waste."

Nishikawa rolled her eyes. "You know, you could avoid this by just not sitting beside him all the time."

He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Are you inviting me to sit with you, Yana?"

Nishikawa snorted while Naomasa grunted and swallowed his mouthful. "She's way out of your league buddy."

Kurosawa looked scandalized. "No one is out of my league."

Naomasa elected not to dignify the younger man with a response, turning back to his burger with a roll of his eyes. He missed to mischief that almost immediately flashed across the other man's face, but Nishikawa sensed the shift like a prickling at the back of her neck. Subtly, she shifted herself and her food down the length of the booth to a more spray-free zone. Kurosawa turned to Naomasa with a look of pure satisfaction and mischief, his stage-whisper loud enough to draw the attention of other patrons in nearby booths.

"I bet you just want her for yourself! What a scandal! What would the chief do if he found out?"

Nishikawa pulled her food further out of the way as Kurosawa's unsavoury comment was met, once again, with a hard blow to the ribs. They argued loudly for a second and Nishikawa elected to focus on her meal, carefully pulling her gloves off and placing them gently on the table beside her. Naomasa watched her, stifling a pleased grin with his drink. Beside him, Kurosawa launched into a story, gesticulating wildly and completely unaware of his bench mate's personal victory. Halfway through the story, the younger man struck out, up-ending his seatmate's unfinished drink. Naomasa made an annoyed sound, just about ready to launch into another argument, but cut himself off as one of the restaurant's workers hurried over with a damp cloth.

The rest of their meal passed more or less uneventfully, and they returned to the station an hour later for their last bout of work before clocking out. Kurosawa disappeared almost immediately, and the two detectives enjoyed a few moments of peace before they resumed their work. Just before he could walk away to his own office, Nishikawa caught Naomasa by the arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. He quirked a brow, taking a moment to note the lack of gloves. Trying not to look too pleased, he nodded at her hand.

"To hot out for gloves?"

Nishikawa attempted to wrestle her face into reproach but settled somewhere near humour instead.

"Thank you." She muttered quietly.

He laughed, ruffling her hair and sending her into half-hearted protests. "Anytime."


	4. Witching Hour

CHAPTER 4 – WITCHING HOUR

Nishikawa sat back, pushing the last of her case files aside for the day. She glanced out her door at the clock in the bullring; quarter to midnight. She raked her fingers through her hair as she stood, collecting her thermos from the desk and switching the lamp beside it off as she moved past. Pulling her jacket on slowly, she winced as something in her shoulder pulled with the movement. Four major incidents in one day; all resolved by the hero himself, and all within a few hours of each other. Carefully massaging her shoulder, Nishikawa wandered over to the office beside hers, waving absently at the few officers still working in the bullring. She rasped her knuckles against the open door as she wandered in, leaning against the wall as her partner looked up from his own work.

"You just about done for the day?" She eyed the ridiculous pile of work on his desk, and the bags under his eyes.

He shook his head, gesturing at the files absently. "Not even close. I can't afford to let this stuff pile up…" He stifled a yawn. "How's the shoulder? That was a nasty fall."

Nishikawa cradled the injury, thinking back to that afternoon. A villain with a heteromorphic quirk and anger management issues, taking advantage of the chaos from the last few hours' incidents. For once the police had responded well before any heroes had, and they had scrambled to get as many civilians clear as possible. Sometime in the scuffle, Nishikawa had turned away to ensure a child had safely made it out of range only for the villain's arm to catch her in the side and send her flying into a car. The shoulder had dislocated on impact, and her head had hit the side of the vehicle hard enough to stun her. The number one hero and several ambulances had appeared moments later and a few hours after that, shoulder set and stitches in her head, she had pulled herself into the cruiser beside her partner and gone back to work.

"It's fine. Twinges sometimes, but I'll live." She took another glance at the almost dead look in his eyes. "From the looks of it, you might not though… Do you want help?"

Naomasa shifted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "You should really go home. I'm surprised you even came back to work with your head like that."

Nishikawa shrugged, depositing her jacket on the couch before going over to the desk. "I can't really sleep much anyway, concussion warning and all that. Besides All Might's only been in town what… two, three months now? And you're already looking like you're going to die."

Naomasa chuckled humourlessly. "You look like you just took the beating of your life, and you think I'm the one who isn't going to make it?"

Nishikawa glowered at him playfully. "Yeah, which says something about how weird and stressed out you've been lately, with all this All Might business."

"Yeah… sorry about that…"

"Don't apologize to me, you're the one running yourself into the ground."

She made to grab a chunk of the files piled on Naomasa's desk, and he shot to his feet.

"NO!... Um… Not those ones…"

He sifted around through the mountain of papers, pulling a different stack and shifting them towards her looking more than a little embarrassed. He cleared his throat awkwardly as Nishikawa collected the papers and shot him a suspicious look.

"Sorry… the chief wanted me to do those myself…"

"Mhm…"

Nishikawa, unconvinced, shot another look at the files she had attempted to grab. They were all recent files, the case reports from the handful of incidents that afternoon involving the number one hero. She glanced back at Naomasa, watching her nervously as she made her way back to the couch.

"You know, if you're secretly an All Might fanboy you don't have to be so secretive about it. Half the station is in the same boat."

Naomasa deadpanned, and Nishikawa laughed. She settled into the couch in her usual position, pulling a pen from an inside pocket of her jacket. Just before setting to work, she turned back to Naomasa carefully.

"Look," Naomasa startled, staring at her wide eyed, "I get that there's some… secret or whatever, between you two. I get it, really. And honestly, I don't care. I don't care if he's secretly your brother, or whatever the hell this might be. But I do care about you." Her determination faltered minutely. "Just… don't kill yourself over this."

Naomasa nodded numbly, and she smiled before getting to work. They worked silently, occasionally getting up to get more caffeine or exchange files, until the pile had dwindled to nothing. Nishikawa deposited the last of the files he gave her on his desk, as Naomasa signed the last of his documents with a tired flick of his wrist. He set his pen down, the quiet clunk as it made contact with the desk more satisfying than he could have imagined. A quick glance at the clock showed him it was nearly three in the morning. He groaned, collecting his stuff and making his way to the door with Nishikawa. She laughed quietly at his look of quiet horror.

"That didn't take so long now did it."

He shot her a baleful look. "No, just three hours. Peace of cake."

They made their way down to street level in relative silence. Arriving at the front door, Nishikawa watched Naomasa pull his phone from his pocket. "You're free to crash at my place, they're not paying you enough to be able to afford a taxi across town every night."

He shook his head, already dialing. "It's fine, I need a shower after everything that's happened today. If I get lucky I might even be able to sleep a little."

"Well, if you're sure."

Naomasa waved her off as the line on his phone picked up and he ordered his cab. She waved, mindful of the dull throbbing radiating steadily from her shoulder, and nodded encouragingly at the officers on night duty trying to busy themselves with anything so as not to doze off. She set off down the street, pulling her coat tight against the chill and wind and marching away as fast as she could.

. . . . . . .

Not for the first time, Nishikawa was glad she had taken an apartment so close to the station. Fifteen minutes after leaving her work, she stood in the lobby of her apartment building unzipping her jacket with a sigh and patting her cheeks in an attempt to rub the cold out of them. She waved a tired greeting to the guard sitting at the front desk, wandering over when he waved back with a friendly smile and beckoned her over.

"Slow night?"

The guard chuckled, pulling his hat from his head and rubbing the bald patch underneath sheepishly. "Things don't get nearly as rowdy as they used to with a cop living in the building."

She chuckled. "Well I'm sorry, looks like I've killed the fun of the place."

The guard snorted. "Hardly. I've got a package here for you by the way. Some guy came in earlier asking for your apartment number, so he could deliver it. Didn't really like the look of him, so I had him leave it here for you."

Nishikawa smiled, taking the manila envelope as he passed it to her over the counter. "Thank you for that."

She checked the envelope, her named the only thing scrawled in loopy cursive over the envelope's surface. She felt it with her fingers but could not make out the contents other than what felt like multiple sheets of paper and a couple of soft lumps which might have been fabric. Deciding it was probably nothing dangerous, she tucked the envelope under her arm and turned away from the desk with a final wave and goodbye. The guard called his own greeting behind her as she stepped into the elevator and she smiled back at him until the doors slid shut between them.

The apartment building was small; five floors each housing ten apartments on each floor. The floor plan was little more than a straight corridor with an elevator and set of stairs in the middle and at either end. The five apartments on each side of the building were distributed evenly so that all were of similar sizes. It was hardly a five-star living space, but it was cheap and clean and more than enough for what she needed. Nishikawa lived on the top floor, in the apartment on the far-right side of the building. It was a little more run down than the other apartments on the floor, with exposed brick in places and uneven paintwork, but it was a place to herself and after a long day at the station that alone was divine.

The elevator dinged as it arrived on her floor. It was quiet in the early hours of the morning, and she was grateful for the emptiness of the hallway as she fumbled with her keys and let herself in. Nishikawa pulled her shoes off, depositing her stuff on the counter as she wandered into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. That done, she pulled the envelope over, leaning back against the counter as she waited for the water to boil.

She traced the letters carefully with one finger, wondering vaguely where she had seen the handwriting before. She opened it cautiously. Reaching in to pull out the contents, her hand met what felt like dozens upon dozens of small, cue-card sized papers stuffed haphazardly into the envelope and smooth, well-worn leather. Confused, she tipped the contents out onto the counter. Her own face peered up at her from the photographs now scattered across the countertop. She leafed through them, feeling unease creep into her gut as she recognized some of the pictures. Most appeared to have been taken as she walked past, unaware of the photographer. She recognized some from the past week, while others looked old enough to have been taken several months before.

She pushed the pile of photos aside, lifting the pair of soft gloves that had fallen out with them. She stood at the counter, feeling her panicked heartbeat pounding in her jaw. She forcefully relaxed her jaw and marched back to her bag. Dumping out the contents frantically, and searching through the small pile. When she found nothing, she raced to her room, flinging things from her drawers as she searched. Trembling, she returned to the kitchen and eyed the otherwise innocuous pair of gloves. Fighting down the wild feeling growing in her gut, she took a second look at the photographs.

Unease twisted in her gut, transforming into full panic as she sifted through the images seeming to go back several months. Some days she seemed to have been standing right beside the photographer, completely unaware. Others, her form was nearly out of the frame of the picture as she hurried past. At the bottom of the pile, a single sheet ripped from a spiral notebook sat folded around a picture from that same day. Everything in the photograph was out of focus, except her as she seemed to rush towards a cruiser. The bruise and stiches on her forehead betrayed the exact timing of the photograph. Nishikawa turned to the paper, unfolding it with shaking hands. The same loopy cursive slanted across the page elegantly.

'Smile, Song Bird.'

Nishikawa dropped the paper, shutting her eyes against the nausea and panic twisting in her gut. The kettle whistled beside her and she fumbled to turn it off, head pounding with her heartbeat and hands shaking. She raked a hand through her hair, suddenly feeling both chilled and overheated, she scanned the apartment for any signs of trespassing. Shaken, she collected her jacket and pulled it on. Throwing the photographs back into the envelope, she shoved the package into an unused drawer before stuffing her feet back into her boots and all but running from the apartment.

Once again Nishikawa found herself thankful for the late hour when the elevator door chimed open immediately. She tumbled back in and jabbed her thumb viciously against the button for the ground floor. Nishikawa rushed out of the elevator, marching up to the guard desk and the surprised clerk sitting beside it.

"Did something happen?"

Nishikawa breathed deeply, struggling to look and sound professional. "The man who left that envelope, what did he look like?"

The guard balked. "Well… I don't know, to tell you the truth. He was wearing a jacket and a big old scarf around his face. Thought he might have been sick, his voice sounded all weird and raspy."

"Did he say anything while he was here? Anything at all?"

The guard shook his head. "No, just that he was to deliver that envelope to you but didn't know the exact apartment number. Got all pissy and desperate when I wouldn't tell him. Has something happened?"

Nishikawa took a deep breath, struggling for composure. "No, it's all right…"

When the guard continued to look dubious, she offered him a reassuring smile, somehow managing to still her trembling hands long enough to pat the guard's in a comforting way. He seemed to relax somewhat at that.

"Something work related?"

Grateful for the excuse, Nishikawa nodded primly. "Something like that. How long ago was it dropped off, anyway?"

Frowning, the guard looked up at the ceiling. "Not quite sure. Time gets a little funny after midnight, but probably sometime just after two."

Throwing a wild look around the lobby, Nishikawa raked her hands through her hair again. Finding nothing unusual, she turned back to the guard with a shaky smile.

"Look, I've got to head back to work. If he comes back, let me know okay? But don't tell him I'm out. Actually, don't let anyone up to my apartment, okay?"

Looking more than a little confused the guard nodded. "Of course. But are you sure everything's alright?"

Nishikawa turned away, marching toward the door and calling back over her shoulder as she left.

"Everything's under control. Just an unexpected complication."

With that, she disappeared out the doors heading for the police station. Above her, the shutters of one of the apartments on the fourth floor slid shut as the person behind stepped away, satisfied at the retreating figure hurrying down the sidewalk.

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Feedback welcome!


	5. Feel No Pain

CHAPTER 5 – FEEL NO PAIN

Nishikawa snapped awake at the quiet, tentative rasp of knuckles against her office door. She lurched halfway upright on her couch, sending the case files open on her stomach cascading to the floor. She groaned, pushing herself into a seated position and leaning over to retrieve them as Naomasa stepped into the room looking troubled. Behind him, standing awkwardly to the side was All Might, obviously uncomfortable and trying to stay out of sight. Nishikawa scrubbed her face with both hands as Naomasa leaned down to pick up some of the files that had scattered beyond her reach.

"What are you doing here so early?"

Naomasa raised a brow at the question. "I have to debrief All Might on all that stuff from yesterday. It's just easier to get here before anyone else and avoid the chaos."

Nishikawa nodded, smoothing her hair with one hand. Naomasa frowned at her. "Have you been here all night? I thought you went home."

"Oh…um… yeah, I forgot something, so I came back and just…stayed…"

Naomasa's frown deepened. She seemed pale, and a little shaken, and he wondered if something had happened with her head injury that she was hiding. He studied the handful of files he picked up for her, a few dating back a couple of years. Nishikawa pulled herself from the couch carefully, gathering the rest of her files and depositing them on her desk. Naomasa wandered over and placed the ones in his hand on the pile, before turning to her and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You sure you're alright? You can take a day off if your head is still bothering you. I won't have that much work after debriefing All Might, so I can cover your work."

Nishikawa shook her head, moving a hand to prod around her temple where the stitches still held the skin together. "No… That's alright. I think I'll just take a shower in the locker rooms real quick."

She moved around her desk, pulling a small duffel bag of spare clothes from where she kept it tucked beneath her desk. She straightened, facing Naomasa who was still watching her with his well-practiced 'I'm concerned but won't say anything if you insist' face. She rolled her eyes, pushing him out of her office as she walked toward the door. All Might gave her a tense smile, raising a hand in greeting as she sent him a curt nod, trying to hide somewhat behind her bangs as she brushed past him.

She jerked as her elbow grazed his as she walked past. Concern and anxiety rattled her jaw, leaving her teeth feeling achy and hollow. The hero visibly stiffened for a moment, before seeming to force himself to relax.

"Are you alright? That was quite the fall you took yesterday."

She blinked, surprised. "I-uh… yeah. Just sore."

Naomasa snorted behind her. "Might help to not sleep on a couch."

Nishikawa turned to swat at him playfully. All Might watched them for a moment, taking in the easy interaction she shared with her partner and felt a spike of guilt as he recalled the way her demeanor seemed to shift around him. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I am sorry for how I've been acting. I'm aware I've made you uncomfortable."

Naomasa blinked at him surprised, and Nishikawa shifted awkwardly away. She crossed one arm across her front, gripping her opposite elbow to still any fidgeting. "Don't worry about it."

"No, it was unfair of me to act the way I did. You are an enforcer of the law, just like me, and it was rude of me to make such a hasty judgment. I apologize."

He extended a hand for her to shake, and Nishikawa glanced between his palm and face several times. Remembering Naomasa's comment about everyone having secrets, Nishikawa felt a sudden pang of guilt and took his offered hand. She could feel some of his residual anxiety, though it was smothered beneath guilt and concern for her well-being, and she struggled to tamp down her body's automatic desire to 'fix' the foreign emotions.

"I'm sorry too, for taking it so personally. I realize that being who you are it might be concerning to be around me. But whatever secret it is you and Naomasa have, please believe I would never reveal it to anyone. And I have no intention of prying or attempting to figure it out."

All Might tensed in surprise but nodded. "Thank you."

Awkwardly, Nishikawa stepped away. She shot Naomasa a look as he struggled to smother the pleased grin stretching across her face. Across the room, the elevator doors glided open and a handful of officers walked in chatting amongst themselves. Nishikawa made a vague motion to leave.

"That's my cue to get going. Better go hide in your office before they notice your guest."

The duo nodded, retreating quickly into the office and drawing the blinds down. Nishikawa took a deep, steadying breath before turning and making her way to the locker rooms in the basement. The place was deserted, and Nishikawa took the opportunity to lean against the wall and let the tension drain from her shoulders. The air conditioning was turned up blessedly high, and the cool stone of the wall helped ease some of the pain from her stitches. She took her time undressing, shoulder stiff and painful from her night on the couch. Once in the shower, she tipped her head back against the tiles and took a few deep breaths as her mind circled back to the night before. She felt her panic creep back and twisted the water on sharply as a distraction, pulling the soap from the rack hanging beneath the showerhead.

There must have been months worth of photos, taken in various places and on different days. Sometimes Naomasa was with her, sometimes she was alone. And she never would have known without that envelope. She traced the letters of the note into the steam fogged glass of the shower door. Her gut twisted, and she swiped a hand over the words to erase them. **Song Bird.** She could barely remember the last time she had been called that. Nishikawa shut her eyes, leaning forward to press her forehead to the tile of the shower wall. Soap ran down from her hair, stinging where it made contact with her stitches. She cursed quietly, shutting off the water.

She dressed quickly, the warm water having loosened her stiff shoulder. Every so often, she would stop to press her towel gently against her head, checking that the water had not completely dissolved her stitches. Once dressed, she sat quietly on a bench in the main locker area, drying her hair with lazy passes of the towel. She shut her eyes against the image of a face swimming to the surface in her mind. She folded over on the bench, curling her arms around her chest and pressing down hard. She released a shaky breath, then another, until she was wheezing breath after breath and struggling to contain the panic rising in her chest.

. . . . . . .

Naomasa sighed as he pushed the last of the completed reports away. Across from him, Yagi sat stooped on the couch in his true form, his overly large clothes hanging from his body and making him look even more gaunt. Not for the first time, he wondered if his friend would ever really come back from this. He sighed again, standing to walk the man to the door.

"Listen, take it easy today, alright? I can't handle worrying about two people at once."

Yagi pushed himself to his feet with a groan, one hand reaching up to cradle his scar. "I have other responsibilities to attend today, but I cannot promise I won't step in if I see something happening."

Naomasa shook his head. "Just try not to get into too much trouble."

He turned away to open the door as Yagi forced himself back into his hero form. He swung the door open, making to step through and stopping abruptly with a startled noise. Nishikawa stood in front of him, hand raised as though she was about to knock. Her hair was still damp from the shower, falling into her face and sticking with the weight of the water. He noticed the gash on her forehead seemed aggravated and he gave her a pointed, disapproving look.

"What happened to your head?"

She grimaced. "Got the stiches wet. Took me a while to try and dry it without doing any damage… Not sure it worked."

Naomasa sighed, stepping out of his office and allowing the hero behind him out. He nodded a greeting at the woman, the ever present All Might grin looking somewhat strained with concern. She smiled tentatively back, shifting a little uncomfortably as she turned her attention back to her partner.

"I think I might have to take you up on the offer to cover. I should probably go home and try to fix…" she waved a hand at her own face, "…this."

"That's fine. I spoke to the chief earlier, we were going to send you home either way."

She laughed a little, moving to head over to her own office. The duo followed her, standing in the doorway as she moved around the office collecting her stuff. She flicked through the files on her desk, pulling a few from the stack that she could work on away from the station and stuffing them into the duffel bag with her phone and dirty clothes.

"Leave me some of this to do tomorrow, yeah? You've got a ton of work yourself."

Naomasa rolled his eyes, ushering her out of her office and towards the elevator along with the hero. "Hurry up and go home."

Nishikawa laughed a little, jamming her thumb against the button to call the elevator. The doors slid open with a ding a few moments later and she stepped in behind the hero. Naomasa waved once before the door shut between them and the lift descended slowly. She tried to ignore the way the man beside her took up all the space in the elevator despite jamming himself into the furthest corner, and the way he watched her like he expected her to keel over any moment.

"I'm not going to collapse you know."

He jerked, surprised and embarrassed she had noticed him fretting. "Sorry…"

Nishikawa laughed a little and shook her head. "It's fine. I get that you're just that kind of person."

"…You do?"

She rolled her eyes, tapping her temple just below the stitches. "You're like seventy-five percent worry for other people. Tsukauchi's like that too."

Yagi snorted. "That doesn't surprise me."

Nishikawa smiled faintly as she watched her reflection in the polished metal of the doors. "I used to want to be like that."

Her companion frowned. "Like what?"

She looked back at him, smiling sadly like she had hoped he would overlook her comment. "Good."

He opened his mouth to respond just as the elevator doors dinged open on the ground floor. She stepped out without looking back. He followed, trailing a little behind her as she moved swiftly through the packed station. She paused when she reached the doors, turning to face him and pushing an embarrassed smile onto her face.

"Sorry about that, forget I said anything. I think my head injury's just getting to me."

She turned before he got the chance to respond, walking quickly out into the busy street toward her apartment. She walked determinedly, not stopping until she stepped into the lobby of her apartment building. The guard from the night before was on his way out, yawning as he wandered out from behind the counter. Nishikawa waved at him in greeting and he waved back, changing course to meet her by the elevator.

"Thought I'd let you know, no word from your mystery visitor last night."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks for that. Have a good rest."

The guard gave a curt nod and a mock salute before shuffling off out the front door. Nishikawa punched the elevator button, and a handful of minutes later was stepping out of the elevator on the fifth floor. Her apartment was untouched from the night before, the paper sat abandoned on the floor of the kitchen and she hurried to stuff it into the trash. She re-boiled the water in the kettle, carefully making herself a cup of tea before settling into her living room couch with her work, fully intending to work the day away. Several files later, her mind fogged and she found her attention drifting. She tipped her head back against the wall behind the couch, breathing deeply and letting herself relax.

She didn't remember falling asleep, but she jolted awake abruptly sometime around sundown. She sputtered for a moment, the taste of ash and chemical smoke thick in her mouth. She jerked, the motion sending pain like a hot flare through her shoulder and pulling her back to the present. Light slanted across her apartment from her living room windows and she pushed herself to her feet with a groan. The majority of her work sat finished on the coffee table, the couple of files she had been working on before falling asleep lay haphazardly on the floor a few feet away. Annoyed, she picked them up and threw them onto the coffee table beside the rest before going to the kitchen to dump out her now cold tea. She raked a hand through her hair, watching the contents slowly swirl into the drain.

"What is wrong with me today…"

She moved through the kitchen in search of food, jamming her hip into the half-open drawer she had thrown the envelope into the night before. She winced, limping over to the fridge only to realize she had yet to do groceries that week. With a sigh, she made her way into her bedroom to change into casual clothes before heading out. The grocery store was barely five minutes away, and she manages to get everything she needed and head back in less than half an hour. She was nearly halfway home, when she abruptly changed direction to take the long way home; the prospect of returning to the empty apartment and the envelope full of photographs suddenly more than she could handle. The route was only a few minutes longer, taking her past one of the city's many beaches. It was hardly the more scenic route, as the beach had been overrun with trash for many years, but it was peaceful in the twilight.

Her pace slowed as she approached, the sun had only just dipped out of sight and its remaining light cast an almost alien atmosphere over the beach. She stopped at the steps leading down to the beach and startled as she nearly collided with the pair coming up the steps. Nishikawa blinked in surprise as the pair of faces staring back at her came into focus and she recognized the skeleton man from the convenience store and the young boy from the sludge villain incident a few months ago. They stared back at her, equally surprised. Eventually, all three seemed to realize that they were just standing around gawping at one another and a flurry of awkward apologies erupted. Nishikawa cleared her throat and stepped out of their way with a nervous laugh.

"Sorry about that."

Skeleton man waved his hands in front of him placatingly, seeming increasingly anxious. "A-ah no problem."

Beside him, the boy's green hair flopped around as he bobbed his head rapidly in agreement before a flicker of recognition seemed to spark in his eyes. He examined her a second time, seeming to struggle to recall her before abruptly his face changed. His eyebrows shot up into his hairline as his eyes bugged out and he took a startled step back.

"You're that cop!"

Nishikawa laughed a little. "That's me. I don't think we were ever introduced; Nishikawa Yanagi."

The boy gawped, clearly stunned at being addressed that way. She could feel the surprise with her quirk, riddled with nerves and a strange kind of timidity she rarely encountered. It occurred to her that this boy, brave enough to literally throw himself unarmed at a villain, was nervous of others the way only the bullied are.

"M-midoriya Izuku."

Nishikawa smiled, offering a hand to shake. He took it gingerly, and she became abruptly aware of the multitude of scrapes and bruises littered across his palm and arm. Her smile dropped and, concerned, she turned over his hand to examine the damage.

"What happened?" And then, seeing the fear in his eyes she added on a lighter note, "Not still running at villain with your backpack I hope."

The man standing half behind Midoriya guffawed loudly at that, cutting himself off abruptly to hack wetly into his fist. She stepped forward reflexively to steady him as he rocked forward with the force of it. He pulled his hand away and Nishikawa startled at the sight of fresh scarlet maring his skin.

"Oh god-"

Nishikawa scrambled for her phone, spilling half her groceries in the process, fingers trembling as she raced to call an ambulance. The man stopped her quickly.

"I'm alright, really."

She shot him a deadpan look, and he continued. "I had surgery recently, this is normal for me. Don't concern yourself with me."

Midoriya pipped in hastily as well and reluctantly Nishikawa returned her phone to her pocket. She checked the time idly before tucking it away, her phone showed ten after seven and she made a strangled surprised sound at the discovery.

"Oh shi-! Sorry, I didn't realize the time. I should let you get on your way."

Midoriya, seeming to remember something important himself, made a horrified gasping noise before rushing away with a quick goodbye, leaving Nishikawa standing awkwardly with the blond man. He scratched his neck nervously, setting his wild mane of hair into motion, and Nishikawa was struck again by how **bony** he seemed; all sharp edges and tendons pulled taut. She cleared her throat awkwardly, shifting from one foot to the other.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name."

"Yagi Toshinori."

She smiled at him, offering him an actual greeting before motioning once again at the phone in her pocket. "It's late. I'll let you head home."

He nodded, offering her a wave before turning to walk down the street. For a moment, Nishikawa watched him go, before realizing he was walking in the general direction of her own apartment. She chuckled to herself, looking around as though wondering where the hidden cameras were for this gag, and jogged to catch up with him. He seemed startled, and a little nervous, as she appeared beside him.

"Sorry… This is awkward, but we're heading the same way."

He stared at her blankly for a moment, before another one of those wet hacking cough erupted from his chest. Nishikawa worried for a split second, before realizing he was laughing. She quirked a brow confused, as he cleared his throat a couple of times.

"Of course we are."

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Feedback welcome!


	6. Dodging Shadows

CHAPTER 6 – DODGING SHADOWS

They lived in the same building she discovered, though he was on the opposite end and a couple of floors below her. They had been halfway back before Nishikawa, tired of the awkward silence, had asked him where he was going and had received the exact address of her own apartment building. He was strangely nervous about talking to her, and she wondered briefly about what was dogging him but decided not to ask. Eventually however, she coaxed him into talking, laughing at the disgruntled look on his face as he told her he had taken the apartment on the recommendation of an old friend.

"Of course, he would recommend a building with a cop in it…"

Nishikawa sniggered. "He's just looking out for you. For all the heroes that UA puts out, there are almost always just as many villains."

Yagi shot her an odd look. "You don't approve of heroes?"

Her lips quirked. "No, nothing like that. But strength invites challenge, that's just human nature."

He fixed her out of the corner of his eye as she walked, and she was struck by how blue his eyes seemed in the evening. "You must really dislike All Might then."

"Not particularly. I've met the man a few times since he's been in the city. He's… not quite what I was expecting. But then, he's very genuine so I suppose that makes up for a lot. At least in my book."

Yagi nodded a few times, seeming lost in thought as the two walked through the dim light of the streetlamps. They were nearly back at the apartment building, she could just make out the neon sign of the 24-hour fast food restaurant beside their building. Idly, Nishikawa's mind strayed from thoughts of heroes back to the boy with the green hair; Midoriya. For all his sheepishness and jumpy reactions, he was a good kid. She hoped he would do something with that courage of his, and maybe discard some of the recklessness. She knew in her heart though that it would never happen. He helped people when they needed it, no matter what. She knew better than most that it was instinct more than anything else. She eyes Yagi out of the corner of her eye, wondering at the connection there.

"Say, what were you and Midoriya even doing at that beach so late anyway?"

Yagi choked loudly, hacking some blood up into his fists for the millionth time that night. Nishikawa reached a hand out to steady him, feeling her heart jump into her throat again. She felt bad now for her initial comparison of him to a skeleton.

"Man… that must have been one hell of a surgery…"

He coughed a few more times into his hand, thankfully dryly. Nishikawa took a handkerchief from her pocket and offered it to him lightly. He took it and abruptly, it dawned on her how large of a man he was. His emaciation and the stoop in his spine hid the fact well, but she could see it in his hands and the way he held himself that he was a man used to feeling much larger than anyone else in the room. Briefly, Nishikawa wondered what kind of job he worked, or had worked before whatever incident had struck that required a surgery that left him coughing up blood.

They were coming up on the building now. Nishikawa greeted the night guard with a wave before stepping into the elevator behind Yagi. They stood in silence a moment, Nishikawa could sense some restlessness from her companion as he wrestled with something, and stayed silent while he made up his mind. A few moments before the elevator door slid open, he let out a sigh and seemed to shrink further into his slouch. He shook his head a little, stepping toward the now open doors.

"Sorry about your groceries."

Nishikawa blinked, looking down at the bag she had hastily re-packed after dropping nearly everything by the beach. The fresh greens poking up from the top of the bag seemed more than a little wilted, and there was a steady accumulation of condensation near the bottom of the bag that told her her frozens were now less than chilled. She looked back at him and smiled.

"Don't worry about it. It would have been a small price to pay if you had actually needed a doctor."

He looked dumbstruck for a moment and she offered him a smile as the doors began sliding shut. "You really are too nice, Yagi."

Nishikawa watched his expression morph into confusion as the doors slid shut between them and she was whisked away to her own floor. She smiled to herself, stepping off the elevator and humming to herself as she made her way down the hall to her door. Vaguely, she realized she had never found out what they had been doing at the beach. She shrugged, fishing her keys from her pockets and quietly resolving to walk past the beach more often. She unlocked the door with one hand, adjusting her groceries in her arms as she shut the door behind her. She made her way towards the kitchen, shoes sliding across the floor as she kicked them off somewhere into the dimness of her apartment. They stopped a few feet away and her heart plummeted into her stomach.

A small piece of paper lay on the ground a short distance from the door, like someone had slid it beneath the crack. Tentatively, Nishikawa set her groceries on a table by the door and peeled the paper from the ground. She recognized the laminated surface of a photograph against her fingers, reading the words scrawled smoothly across the back before turning it over.

'Flying high, Song Bird.'

Her eyes drifted across the picture, taking in each detail. A familiar scene stared back at her. Two figures stood in the center of the police station. Her own form was turned away, her back and a partial view of her face the only things visible in the image. Across from her, the hulking form of the Symbol of Peace stood looking as dumbstruck as she remembered. Adrenaline shot through her system; this had been taken **that morning**. From inside the station. Her stomach turned and she sank to her knees, curling in on herself in an attempt to stop the roiling in her gut. Hands shaking, she turned the picture back over to look at the words again. They spun out of focus and she dropped the paper to the ground in favor of shoving her head between her knees as her heartrate galloped out of control.

. . . . . . .

It took Nishikawa several minutes to collect herself. Sitting in the entrance of her apartment as thoughts flew through her mind, each wilder than the last until a single thought burned at the forefront of her mind. _Get out_. She pushed herself up from the ground. The movement sent her head spinning and she staggered forward before correcting herself. She shouldered her way into the living room with the singular thought still pounding to the beat of her adrenaline. She grabbed her duffle bag off the coffee table as she walked past, shoulder pulling painfully as the weight fell onto it. The contents spilled to the floor in a cascade of paper and clothing as she lost her grip on the bag. She stopped short. The file she had pulled from the archives the night before slid to a stop by her feet. It was thicker than most case files, and the heavy red print of letters gave it away for what it was.

'SEALED'

Nishikawa stooped to pick up the classified file. She'd leafed through it a dozen times the night before, trying to find a mistake. The case report sitting at the top of the file relayed the events just as she had heard them four years ago. No mistakes, no divergence. She opened the file once again, skimming the report for the millionth time before her eyes stopped on a small annotation sitting beside the official signatures.

'AMD'

She frowned, tracing a hand over the old ink carefully. The letters were scrawled in the chief's scratchy handwriting, but she did not recognize the shorthand. Frowning, Nishikawa stuffed the file back into the duffle bag. She hastily piled the other files into a messy stack and stuffed them back in the bag as well. Moving into her room, she chucked her dirty work clothes into a hamper and shuffled across to her dresser without pause. She dumped half her work clothes and underwear into the bag unceremoniously. She yanked her phone charger from the wall harshly and threw it into the bag and marched from the room. She grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste from the bathroom quickly, then made a bee-line for the door where she had left her groceries and keys. She groaned, pausing her mad rush long enough to weigh the pros and cons of just leaving her groceries where they were. Finally, she hung the bag on her elbow planning to stuff the groceries in the office mini-fridge.

Duffle bag slung around her body, she hurriedly pulled her boots back on and grabbed her keys. All but running to the elevator, she jammed her thumb into the call button. The doors slid open neatly moments later, and she stepped in with a huff. Repeatedly pressing the button for the ground floor, Nishikawa shifted urgently from one foot to the other. She almost wilted in relief when the elevator finally began to move, only to groan when it slowed to a stop on the floor below her. A middle-aged man appeared as the doors slid open on the fourth floor. He smiled at her, polite and unassuming. Nishikawa felt her head pound. Unease took hold of her as he stepped into the elevator and went to hit the ground floor button before realizing it was already lit up. Against her own rules, Nishikawa released her death-grip on her quirk and allowed herself to take a read on the man.

The man's foreign, slugishness crept through her body like molasses. The tired, calm feelings he radiated weighed like led weights tied to her fingers, and she forced herself to sever the connection before she accidentally sent the man into a panic. Nishikawa felt guilt at her own reaction, even as the feeling of unease roiled out of control. The elevator began to move again, drifting lower slowly and stopping again only a few floors lower. Nishikawa considered getting out and taking the stairs for a moment before the doors slid open to reveal a familiar face. Yagi stared back at her surprised. Taking her chance, Nishikawa stepped off the elevator.

"Where are you going? It's getting late."

Yagi shot her a dubious 'I-could-say-the-same-to-you' look. Seeming to take in the whole situation at once, his eyes drifted over her duffle bag before taking in the haunted look in her eyes and flickering to the man left standing in the elevator. He was holding the door, watching them with a placid expectant look. Yagi made a split-second decision and waved the elevator away. The man inside shot him a confused, annoyed look before allowing the doors to close. Nishikawa visibly relaxed as soon as the doors slid shut.

"Are you alright?"

Nishikawa gave an awkward shoulder gesture that could have meant anything. "Yeah… Thanks for… that. Sorry you missed your elevator."

"Not a problem. I'll catch the next one."

Nishikawa nodded distracted, already beginning to edge toward the stairs. Yagi raised a brow. "Where are you going anyway?"

She balked. "O-oh, uh… work."

"At nearly ten o'clock at night? I thought detectives didn't work night shifts outside of overtime."

"They don't. But I can't stay in my apartment tonight."

Immediately, Nishikawa regretted the words. Yagi went from mildly concerned to full worry in less than a second and she found herself suddenly having to reassure the man that 'no, no one is in immediate danger' and 'everything is under control'. Desperate to quell his worried inquiries she threw out the first lie she could think of.

"My apartment flooded, that's all. Not bad enough to cause damage, but I can't stay tonight. I have a couch at work, don't worry about me." And then, desperate to change the subject. "Where were you going?"

The distraction seemed to work. "The light in my bathroom isn't working properly. I was going down to the front desk."

"Is it flickering? They all do that. There's a trick to it."

Momentarily distracted from her panic, and more than happy to put distance between herself and the strange man from the elevator, she allowed herself to relax into the conversation.

"I can take a look, if you want. I don't want to intrude."

Yagi looked startled, then more than a little freaked out and Nishikawa vaguely wondered if she had offended him. She scrambled to apologize and rescind the offer, but the next moment he shook himself and smiled tentatively.

"That would be helpful, thank you."

She smiled gently, motioning down the hall. "Lead the way."

. . . . . . .

Yagi's apartment was nearly identical to hers, mirrored on the opposite side of the building. He let her in with a vague apology about 'the mess' and the two kicked off their shoes at the door. Nishikawa dropped her duffle bag by the door and wandered toward the bathroom as Yagi insisted on putting her groceries in the fridge. She let him take the bag from her without a fight, though the groceries were well and truly defrosted by that point. She waited for him to join her by the bathroom, eyeing the multitude of pills lined up along the sink. The light overhead flashed madly when she flipped it on and a smile twisted her lips despite herself. She motioned Yagi over, before carefully climbing onto the sink counter and pulling the cover off the light.

"For some reason all the lights in the building do this if they screw the bulb in too tight."

She smiled at him, loosening the bulb with careful, gentle fingers, before replacing the cover and hopping down. Yagi raised a brow dubiously.

"That's it?"

"Well, you'll probably have to re-adjust it every couple of months, but yeah. That's it."

"I see. Well thank you. Can I offer you a cup of tea? As thanks."

Nishikawa hesitated, but her earlier panic was beggining to ebb and with it the urgency that had driven her from her apartment in the first place. She nodded slowly, offering her thanks as he led her down the hall back into the living room. Five minutes later they were sitting around the living room chatting idly. Nishikawa could sense a lingering awkwardness from her companion, beneath something that felt like trepidation. She struggled to tamp down the unwelcome intrusion of her quirk. She reached for her cup again, only to discover she had already drained the contents. Sheepishly, she stood and offered the cup back to Yagi. He went to refill and she hurried to stop him, following him to the kitchen doorway.

"I should really go. I've imposed quite a bit already."

Yagi slowed on his way to the kitchen seeming to steel himself. He heaved a deep breath in and out.

"You should stay the night. I've got a pull-out couch, it's not much better than a regular couch but it should spare your back."

"Oh, no… I couldn't possibly- "

Yagi cut her off, gently pressing another cup into her palms.

"I can't, in good conscience, let you go sleep on a couch at your workplace. Especially injured."

Nishikawa hesitated, but Yagi's face was open and friendly if not a little pinched with worry. She sighed, throwing a look back over her shoulder into the living room and beyond to the darkened city beyond the windows.

"You really don't have to do this. It's not nearly as bad as it looks."

"It's really not a problem."

Nodding slowly, Nishikawa backtracked into the living room. She resumed her position as Yagi sat back down with his own cup of tea and conversation resumed. They talked their way through another cup of tea each, before Nishikawa had to cut herself off mid-sentence to yawn. Yagi took that as his cue to retire, pulling out the bed and offering her a pillow and sheets. She thanked him, crawling under the sheets sluggishly as he ducked out of the room. Nishikawa felt sleep begin to overtake her almost immediately. The crash from her earlier adrenaline rush hit her hard as she settled in to the blankets. The last thing she registered before descending into sleep was Yagi's outline as he moved quietly around the apartement shutting off lights.

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Feedback welcome!


	7. Dialogue of the Deaf

CHAPTER 7 – DIALOGUE OF THE DEAF

"So, let me get this straight; **you** let my partner stay at your apartment? **You**? Mr. Big-Secret? Mr.- "

"I get it. I took a risk."

Yagi sank back into the couch with a grunt. The morning had passed uneventfully. Mercifully, Nishikawa had left early in the morning, borrowing his key to lock the door behind her and sliding it back under the door. Yagi had woken in a panic with blood bubbling up his windpipe and laid in bed a good fifteen minutes struggling with the issue of his guest before realizing the apartment was silent as a grave. He had pulled himself out of bed, dressing quickly before wandering out into the living room to find the couch and blankets folded up neatly. A note sat on a corner of the coffee table with thanks and a brief explanation for Nishikawa's early departure. Yagi had elected to wait a few hours before rushing over to the station in his hero form to speak with Naomasa. The pleased look now sliding across the man's face was enough to assure him that that had been a bad idea. He leaned forward again, propping his elbows against his knees and threading his fingers together.

"I don't think you're really taking this as seriously as you should."

Naomasa sighed. "Not this again."

"It's a legitimate concern, at this rate it's not improbable she will begin to suspect. She already knows there is a secret- "

"And she's already assured you she won't pry."

"Not on purpose. But-"

Yagi cut himself off at Naomasa's displeased look. He shook his head, holding his hands up placatingly.

"That isn't why I'm here, anyway. There's something going on with her. She was worked into a panic when I ran into her in the elevator."

Naomasa furrowed his brows, carefully going over the explanation she had given Yagi the night before and Yagi's account of her demeanor. His mind flashed back to the previous morning, remembering finding her asleep on her couch with years old case files. He frowned.

"You think she's caught up in something?"

Yagi shrugged. "I don't know. But I know someone in distress when I see them."

Naomasa leaned back into his chair, fiddling with the open file on his desk. He tapped it a few times, looking anywhere but at the hero. Finally, he sighed and scrubbed his face with both hands.

"I'll watch her back as much as I can. I can't exactly just walk over there and ask about it without giving you away."

Yagi nodded solemnly. Standing to excuse himself as Naomasa made his way around the desk to escort him out. He walked him to the elevator, catching Nishikawa's inquiring look as they wandered past her door. When Yagi was safely in the elevator, Naomasa looped back around to his partner's office. She was reclining in her chair when he walked in and shut the door behind him. She raised a brow but said nothing until he dropped heavily into her couch.

"Something wrong?"

Naomasa glanced up at her questioningly and she made a vague motion toward the elevator.

"Star-spangles doesn't usually show up unless there's a debriefing."

"You do remember that part about us being friends, right?"

"Friendly meetings don't usually leave both parties looking worried."

Nishikawa pulled the mug of tea from the corner of her desk, watching him carefully over the rim as she sipped her drink. Naomasa struggled, seeming to decide how much or how little to tell her. She set the drink back and went back to working on the file in front of her as she waited. When nothing was forthcoming she sighed.

"Is this about that secret again?"

Naomasa cringed. "Uh… sort of…"

Nishikawa ran a hand through her hair. "Alright, well… can you at least tell me if it's something serious? You know you can tell me if something's wrong… even if you can't give me details. I don't want you getting hurt if I can help it."

"No! No, nothing dangerous. You know me, I just worry a lot."

Nishikawa nodded, shoving down the temptation to reach out with her quirk and 'fix it'. She turned back to her work, fully expecting that to be the end of the conversation when Naomasa spoke again.

"Would you?"

She blinked. "Would I what?"

"Tell me? If something were wrong, I mean."

She shoved the file in front of her aside, leaning back to consider him. Her ankle brushed the duffle bag she had hidden beneath the desk, and memories from the night before flashed briefly in her mind. She forced herself to smile at him reassuringly.

"Of course."

"So, you won't mind me asking why you've been coming in early the last couple of days."

Nishikawa cringed, opening her mouth to wave away his concerns when he cut her off.

"And don't tell me it's nothing."

"It **is** nothing."

Naomasa shot her a dubious look and she relented with a sigh.

"I've just been having some apartment trouble. Should be fine soon."

"So you've been sleeping in the station? Yana- "

She waved him away gently. "I stayed with a friend last night. I came in early because I took yesterday off and got nothing done."

Naomasa relented, pursuing a different angle. "And tonight?"

"Everything should be fixed by now, so tonight it's home."

"Well… let me know if it isn't fixed. I don't like the idea of you sleeping on couches, you took a nasty beating a couple of days ago."

Nishikawa rolled her eyes but smiled at him. Naomasa smiled back. Feeling the conversation was over, he stood and made his way to the door. Nishikawa felt her ankles brush her duffle bag again, feeling guilt creep dully into her mind before she remembered the sealed file. Naomasa stopped in the doorframe when she called out to him.

"Hey, do you know what AMD means?"

"AMD?"

"Yeah, I was going over some old files for research and I came across that."

Naomasa frowned. "It means the file's been amended. One copy with the 'fixed' version of the story given to the press, another 'unofficial' copy with the full account. It's usually for cases with loose ends."

Now Nishikawa frowned. "Do they keep the unofficial copy?"

"Usually. The chief keeps them since there aren't that many."

Nishikawa felt her stomach turn. Vaguely she considered sneaking into the chief's office and stealing the file before she realized how crazy she sounded. She sighed, pressing her knuckles to her eye sockets. Naomasa watched her from the doorway, concerned.

"Everything alright?"

Nishikawa startled. "Wh- Yeah. Just… another dead end…" She made a show of looking around at the files on her desk. "I should get back to work, this'll set me back a decent chunk."

Naomasa nodded, shooting his partner one last concerned glance before wandering back to his own office. He dropped heavily into his own seat, leaning forward to rest his chin on his hands as he considered everything he had learned in the last few minutes. Nishikawa was definitely up to something, vaguely he worried that she was looking into the All Might secret but cast the notion aside quickly. **He** trusted her, even if Yagi stubbornly insisted on his own prejudices. And besides, he reassured himself, she did not have nearly enough information to go on. No, something else was happening. Naomasa could feel it in his gut. Resigned, he pulled out his phone to shoot off a quick text.

YOU WERE RIGHT. SOMETHING'S UP. -T.N.

He shut his phone into his desk drawer with a snap, feeling his gut turn with worry. His phone vibrated as a response came in. He chose to ignore it, pulling a file from his stack and diving into his work instead.

. . . . . . .

Nishikawa stood up from her desk at the end of the day, stretching her arms above her head and feeling the pull in her spine. Naomasa was still working away in his office, so she made a point of swinging by to check in with him. He switched off his desk lamp and stood up as she entered. Nishikawa smiled ruefully.

"Guess I don't need to ask if you're done then."

Naomasa chuckled. "Just finished. You feeling like dinner?"

Nishikawa smiled and nodded just as another head poked around the corner. Floppy brown hair burst into view around the opposite side of the doorframe.

"Did I hear dinner?"

Naomasa visibly deflated at the appearance of the other junior detective. "Kurosawa…"

Nishikawa laughed. "We did. And if I remember correctly you owe us both dinner for last week."

The younger detective's smile slid from his face. Naomasa, on the other hand, smirked triumphantly. "Actually, I seem to remember that too."

Kurosawa relented with a sigh. "Fine, you win. But I'm picking the restaurant."

Fifteen minutes later found the three police officers seated at a ramen bar down the road, each slurping happily at their meal. The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon and, hunger sated and ready to call it a day, the three officers sat in relative silence. Eventually, Kurosawa shifted and ordered the check. He paid the bill with a disheartened look but bid the other two good night with a cheerful smile and wave. Nishikawa took this as her cue to leave, offering her partner a smile as she stood and collected her coat. Naomasa did the same, pulling his phone out to check the time and smiling more brightly when he realized he still had time to catch the train instead of taxiing home. Nishikawa waved as they parted, heading in the general direction of her apartment building until she was well out of sight, then looping around to take the long way back to the station. She slowed her pace, seeing the beach come into view ahead of her.

She leaned casually against the concrete wall, looking out over the beach. She realized belatedly that the beach seemed less cluttered than she remembered. In some places, the endless piles of trash gave way to reveal pieces of shoreline and water. At the far end of the beach, she could make out two figures in the twilight steadily making their way toward the steps. Nishikawa hurried to meet them at the bottom of the steps. The duo looked more the startled when she appeared around the corner. Yagi, looking increasingly nervous as she approached, while Midoriya greeted her with a smile.

"Hello again!"

Nishikawa smiled at his enthusiasm, happy that the fearfulness she had witnessed before seemed to let up. "Hello. You're out late again tonight."

Midorya nodded. She eyed his hands, noting the fresh scrapes and bruises as well as a layer of mud and sand on his palms. Realization struck her out of the blue.

"You're clearing the beach."

Another sparkling, exhausted smile from the boy. She returned it, eyes sweeping over the beach before swiveling back to settle on Yagi. He seemed intent on shrinking into the background, though he covered it up hastily when he felt her eyes turn on him. He offered his own, half-nervous smile. Suddenly Midoriya made a startled noise, exclaiming about the time before offering a brief goodbye and running off. The two adults watched him run off for a moment, an awkward silence descending. Nishikawa cleared her throat awkwardly.

"He seems like a good kid…" Then, when no response was forthcoming; "I hope I didn't offend you running off this morning without a word. I had to get into work."

Yagi forced himself not to start. "No, of course not. I understand completely. Is your apartment fixed?"

Nishikawa weighed her options quickly, before settling on a response. "Yeah, all good. I was just heading back now actually."

Yagi nodded sagely, looking relieved. "That is good to hear."

The two stood awkwardly for a moment before Yagi made a vague motion to the stairs. "Shall we get going then?"

"Oh, uh…. Actually, I need to swing by the grocery store again. My food sort of… didn't make it."

Yagi watched her carefully for a moment, and Nishikawa wondered vaguely if she had offended him. She hoped not. She found she was quite fond of the odd man. He shrugged a moment later though, and she released a breath she had not realized she was holding. He offered her a tired smile as they both moved to climb the stairs. They parted ways with amicable smiles, and Nishikawa hurried off toward the grocery store without looking back. Yagi turned to watch her go halfway down the street. He held his breath as he watched, praying his gut was wrong. He was relaxing, about to turn away, when at the last moment he saw Nishikawa duck into a side-street that most definitely did not lead to the grocery store. He frowned, wrestling with himself before sighing and jogging down the street. By the time he reached the mouth of the alley, Nishikawa had disappeared. He sighed, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He toyed with the idea of texting Naomasa for a moment but decided against it. He shook his head, worry creeping through him as he stowed the phone back into his pocket.

. . . . . . .

Nishikawa returned to the station as quickly as she could without drawing attention to herself. She offered the police on duty in the main station a flimsy excuse about overtime as she walked past. Their shift nearly over, they hardly offered more than a tired nod as they waved her through to the elevator. Nishikawa formulated her plan as she jammed her thumb against the elevator call button. She would sleep in the station, in her office, and wake up early to shower. After, she would leave the building to get breakfast and show up again at her regular time. Nishikawa stepped into the elevator as it arrived, casting a glance back over her shoulder at the guards on duty. She frowned as she struggled to remember the shift change times, resolving to look them up upstairs. She would need to time her departures around the shift rotations to disguise her comings and goings.

She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she stepped out of the elevator. The bullring was deserted, and a quick glance up the split level revealed the detective offices equally unoccupied. Relaxing, Nishikawa walked toward her office only to walk straight into the janitor as he came around the corner. She stumbled, quickly steadying the man as he wobbled and threatened to tip over. He looked young, in his late twenties or early thirties, with a mess of sandy hair that curled around his face and reminded her vaguely of a poodle.

"I'm so sorry about that."

The janitor shook his head. "No worries. My fault, really. I thought the floor was deserted."

Nishikawa laughed nervously. "Yeah… sorry. I stepped out for dinner."

The janitor waved away her apology good-naturedly. He stepped past her, heading for the elevator as he dragged his trolley behind him. Nishikawa considered this new hurdle as he pressed the elevator call button.

"Are you the only janitor here? I've never seen you around before."

He looked surprised at being addressed again. "Oh… yes, actually. The old janitor just retired, they're still looking for his replacement so I'm on my own for now."

"That seems like a lot…"

"It's not too bad actually." He gave her a reassuring smile. "I usually just empty trash cans. They only vacuum once a week here."

Nishikawa nodded, trying for sympathy even as she fought a smile. She cast a glance around the room considering. The elevator dinged open and she took her chance.

"Hey, listen… I'm going to be pulling a lot of late nights for a while and I'd hate to be in your way. Why don't I empty all the trash bins on this floor into the main bin by the coffee machine at the end of the day? Make things easier for you."

The janitor looked startled. He pushed his trolley into the elevator doorway to stop it closing as he considered the offer. The station was five floors, each densely packed with offices and more than a single janitor could hope to get through in reasonable time without help. The man nodded slowly, before seeming to remember something and frowning.

"No, I couldn't possibly… You've got plenty of work on your own."

Nishikawa pushed a friendly smile onto her face. "It's no problem really. It'll remind me to take breaks."

He hesitated one last time, before offering her a tired, thankful smile. "Well, if you're sure."

"Of course. Anyway, I'd better stop distracting you. Have a good night."

He bid her goodnight and stepped onto the elevator. Briefly, Nishikawa felt guilt tug at her core. She shook her head against the thought, maneuvering around desks toward her office. The janitor was overworked, he could benefit from the help. She was hardly putting anyone in harm's way, just her sleep schedule. She stepped into her office, shutting the door gently behind her, resolving to get her stalker situation under control as quickly as possible. No one would have to know. With a self-satisfied nod, Nishikawa shut her door with a quick flick of her wrist and marched back over to her desk. She pulled the sealed file from her duffle bag and wandered back over to the couch to read it one final time before settling in for the night.

Outside the station, a middle-aged man watched the windows of the upper floors with annoyance. He yanked his coat tighter around his frame, turning abruptly and stalking away. Frustration bubbled beneath his skin, the camera around his neck bouncing painfully against his sternum with each step.

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Feedback welcome!


	8. Gut Feeling

CHAPTER 8 – GUT FEELING

Nearly a week into her strange lie, Nishikawa had her routine down to an art. Waking up early to exit the station before the night shift turn over, she would find the nearest open coffee shop and order breakfast. When she returned, the day would proceed normally until it was time to leave. She made a point of leaving with Naomasa at the end of the day, walking out and pretending to go home. Sometimes she looped around the block once and returned to the station, other times she would go past the beach. Those days, she would stand at the top of the stairs and watch as Midoriya ran around the beach struggling with the garbage. Occasionally, Yagi would offer advice, but Nishikawa realized quickly that he never helped. By her third visit, the duo noticed their infrequent visitor and Nishikawa wandered to the bottom of the steps as Midoriya ran over to greet her.

"Hello!"

She smiled awkwardly in return. "Hey, kiddo. How's it going?"

He grimaced, and Nishikawa ruffled his hair with a laugh. "Midoriya then. Looks like you're making some headway here."

He beamed. "I'm right on track!"

"On track? For what?"

Yagi, who had followed behind at a more sedate pace, hacked loudly into his fist. Nishikawa looked over concerned but was waved off immediately. Midoriya continued unperturbed by the small outburst.

"I'm training for the U.A. entrance exam."

Nishikawa blinked and laughed. "Hero work… Of course."

Midoriya seemed to take that as a complement, his grin redoubling. Vaguely, Nishikawa wondered what she had done to earn such blind, wholehearted approval from the boy. She took another glance around the beach. He **was** making good headway. Even under the assumption that he had been clearing the beach long before she had run into them a week before, the area was improving at a surprising rate. She smiled.

"You're first act of good-will seems to be going smoothly."

"It doubles as fitness training too."

Nishikawa blinked at him, surprised. "That it does. But it takes more than being fit to be a hero."

Yagi shifted awkwardly beside the boy, and for the first time Nishikawa turned her full attention to him. Yagi struggled to keep his face as unassuming as possible and tried not to look too much like he was in a police line-up. Her quirk flared up at the back of her mind, the way it did when someone was uneasy around her. She stamped it down, annoyed that the knowledge bothered her. She forced a smile onto her face, hoping her distraction went unnoticed.

"I take it you're overseeing the whole fitness training thing then?"

"U-uh, yeah."

"You're going to teach him to fight too, I guess? Is that okay for your health?"

Yagi balked at the question, and immediately felt guilt turn his stomach. Of course, her concern was his health. He mentally berated himself. Trying not to look as foolish as he felt, Yagi cleared his throat awkwardly.

"We practice moves, but for obvious reasons I cannot be a training partner."

Nishikawa seemed relieved at the response. "Well that's a good start." And then turning to address Midoriya as an afterthought; "I can be your practice partner if you want. Police learn hand-to-hand, though we rarely have to use it."

Midoriya lit up like a Christmas tree, and Yagi supressed a groan. Before he could come up with a reasonable excuse to turn her down, Midoriya accepted with enthusiasm. He looked for a moment as though he would jump right into sparring, but Nishikawa stepped back with a laugh and a shake of her head.

"Not today! I'm hardly dressed for a work out." Midoriya deflated and she laughed again. "Tell you what; I'll swing by as often as I can and a couple of times a week we'll do some training, okay? I don't want to disrupt your regime too much."

Midoriya blinked twice, before turning away somewhat to consider the offer. He grasped his chin in one hand, cradling his elbow with his other hand as he muttered under his breath manically. He paced a few times, and Nishikawa's eyebrows shot up in surprise at the change in character. Eventually, Yagi seemed to decide he had officially done enough thinking and snapped him out of it, sending him off to finish his own training for the day. Midoriya looked startled, making a noise somewhere between horror and surprise before racing off with a quick 'thank-you-bye'. Yagi excused himself as well, and Nishikawa waved goodbye before heading back to the station feeling much lighter than when she left.

She stopped by the beach more often after that, even on the days when she did not have the energy to spar. It started out awkwardly, with Yagi tense and anxious in his own world and Nishikawa more than confused at his odd behaviour. Eventually, the tension eased and they fell into a pattern of light small talk punctuated by Midoriya scrambling about in the background. On the days she trained with Midoriya she was met with more enthusiasm. Mostly, she helped him learn basic defence moves; showing him how to dodge and grapple with larger opponents and reminding him constantly to think on his feet. Those days Yagi's anxiety of being discovered ebbed and he simply sat and watched the two with a light smile. Nishikawa moved with the practiced grace of a seasoned fighter, twisting out of the way of Midoriya's clumsy attacks or deflecting him gently. Sometimes they reversed roles and it was the boy's turn to dodge and weave as she moved around him. It was obvious, even to Midoriya, that although she never pushed too hard, she never went easy either.

When training ended, Midoriya would work through his stretches nearby, talking a mile a minute and throwing different strategies and theories out. Nishikawa listened raptly, occasionally cutting in to offer her two-cents. Then, the trio would part ways; the boy running home ahead while the two adults walked to their apartment complex at a more leisurely pace. Occasionally, Nishikawa used grocery runs as a quick means to run off back to the station. More often she walked to her apartment complex with Yagi, diverting at the elevators to check her mailbox and sending him ahead so she could loop back to the station. And the cycle would begin again.

. . . . . . .

Three weeks into this routine Nishikawa's nerves began to fray. As far as she could tell the photo-notes had stopped coming. Not that she went to her apartment to check either way. Despite this, a lingering sense of dread kept her up late into the night and kept her from returning to her apartment. Memories of her strange, near-panic in the elevator kept complacency at bay and the words 'Song Bird' burned behind her eye lids whenever she lay down to rest. Feeling drained, Nishikawa left work early and arrived at the beach at the same time as her companions. Yagi noted she seemed more worn out than she had that morning when he had stopped by in his hero form but bit his tongue against a comment.

He had been slipping up more often recently; a passing comment here, a remark there. More than once he had nearly forgotten her presence and transformed to demonstrate something for Midoriya before remembering her abruptly. Frankly, he was surprised she had yet to put it together. Though he would not deny that it was a great relief to him. Her near constant appearances at Midoriya's training had initially been a source of immense stress, and he assumed she was trying to figure out his secret. But as the days ran into weeks, it became clear that her intentions were genuine. Despite himself his suspicion lingered. Every lull in their conversations or prolonged eye contact sent his mind racing. His gut twisted, unsettled when he realized how mistrustful he had become. He startled out of his thoughts when she dropped down to sit beside him.

"Tough day?"

She blinked, offering him a tired smile as she curled in on herself to rest her elbows on her knees. Early as it was, the day was beginning to fade. Every minute that went by, the sun dropped lower toward the horizon. It cast warm shadows across her face, aging her. A cold wind blew through and Nishikawa was silently grateful she grabbed her police jacket before leaving the station.

"What makes you say that?"

Yagi barely bothered to respond, raising an eyebrow dubiously. She laughed, shaking her head and dropping her head down to stare at her fingers. Down the beach, Midoriya struggled to move an old minifridge.

"It was a slow day, actually. I've just got a lot on my mind."

It wasn't a lie. Crime rates were at an all time low in the city. Even All Might, number one hero and ultimate meddler, had only had a handful of incidents to deal with in the last week. Most people were grateful, chalking it up to the mere presence of such a big-name hero acting as a deterrent. Still, Nishikawa could not help but feel it was all the calm before the storm. She was jarred from her thoughts as Yagi leaned forward beside her to get into her field of vision.

"If there's any way I can help…"

She smiled. "Thank you, but I doubt it."

"It cannot hurt to talk about it."

She considered him, looking as open and genuine as ever. Elsewhere, Midoriya's feet slid out from under him and he fell into the sand with a strangled yelp. Nishikawa turned to check on him. A smile tugged at the corner of her eyes as she watched him shake sand from his mess of green hair. She sighed through her nose, opening her mouth to speak without turning back to face her companion.

"It feels like something is coming."

Yagi's brows furrowed, but she continued before he could interject.

"Crime rates are down. Everything is peaceful. But the atmosphere feels… tight. Like the city is waiting for something." She turned to look at him, suddenly looking awkward. "Maybe it's because of the nature of my quirk, but… I can't shake the feeling."

"The nature of your quirk?"

She shifted, looking more uncomfortable than ever. "I- uh, yeah. I'm an empath so I just… sense… things. Emotions. Sometimes I just get a sense of… **something** before it happens. Like too much anticipation in one place makes it loud."

She turned back to watch Midoriya, staring determinedly ahead. Yagi watched her profile; the pinch between her eyebrows, the tightness in her mouth. Of course, he had known her quirk all along, but he struggled a moment with the raw proof of how other people had damaged her. What people did with that information. What he had done with that information. He groped for an appropriate response, resolving to get it right this time around.

"… That must be a useful quirk for a police officer." He eventually murmured lamely.

Nishikawa blinked. She turned to face him, inspecting his face suspiciously.

"I guess." And then more slowly. "You took that surprisingly well. Most people just assume…"

Yagi plastered what he hoped was a surprised look onto his face. He searched for something to explain his apparent disregard. Eventually he shrugged, motioning to himself. "I'm quirkless. It is hardly my place to judge others for their usefulness."

Nishikawa's jaw dropped in surprise, but she shook herself a moment later and offered him a small, sad smile. "Others with much more have judged me for much less."

His stomach turned. "Then they were wrong. You hardly seem deserving of such harsh judgement."

She snorted. "Not everyone's a saint who can just accept a mind-reader, Yagi."

Yagi considered her quietly for a moment. The conversation had taken an unexpectedly confrontational turn. He took a different approach. "Young Midoriya would hardly care."

Her eyes flashed sharply as she turned back to him. He raised his hands placatingly.

"I would never say anything if it was not what you wanted. I'm just stating, his opinion would hardly be swayed. You're as good as a hero in his mind."

Nishikawa rolled her eyes, and he continued more adamantly. "I'm serious."

She stopped short of a retort, eyes flickered between his as she searched his face. When she found nothing suspicious she shook her head and slumped back against the steps behind her.

"I don't see why. We're practically strangers."

"The incident with the sludge monster."

When Nishikawa frowned, Yagi continued. "As far as I know, young Midoriya has wanted to be a hero his whole life and in all that time all he was ever told was to give up. And the moment he was going to give up on that dream, you chose to reward his bravery instead of chastising him."

Nishikawa looked confused. "Why was everyone telling him to give up?"

"U-uh…" He scrambled for an excuse. "He has trouble controlling his quirk. More than most."

"Quirks can be trained, that's hardly a good excuse."

"Neither is it a good excuse to pass judgment for a type of quirk."

Nishikawa sent him a vaguely impressed look. The sun had dipped nearly below the horizon by then, and a short distance away Midoriya stretched out his muscles as he prepared to finish for the day. There was a moment of calm as the two adults sat together on the stairs. The peace was shattered a second later when Nishikawa's phone rang loudly with a text message. Confused, she pulled it from her jacket pocket.

URGENT. NEED YOU AT STATION ASAP. -T.N.

Frowning, Nishikawa typed back a quick reply and stood to leave. "Duty calls."

Yagi waved awkwardly. Nishikawa offered a tight smile in return. Turning to Midoriya as he walked up the steps towards them, she bid him a quick goodbye before turning and jogging away down the street.

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Feedback welcome!


	9. Face the Music

CHAPTER 9 – FACE THE MUSIC

Nishikawa wandered into the station less than fifteen minutes later. Slightly out of breath from her run, she barely paused long enough to greet the officers at the desk. She was nearly at the elevator when an officer stopped her. He handed her a manila envelope as she drew up to the counter. Neat cursive swirled across the back, spelling out her name and title in delicate ink. Nishikawa felt her stomach clench with nerves.

"That came in for you not too long ago. The courier said it was urgent."

Nishikawa nodded, tight lipped. She wandered into the elevator blindly, never taking her eyes off the envelope in her hands. It felt empty. Possibly a single file or report coming in for her, or possibly another photograph. Her gut turned again with the idea. The elevator chimed happily as it reached her floor, and Nishikawa stepped out. Nervous, she rushed toward her office, forgetting momentarily that she had been called back by Naomasa. He stood in the doorway of his office looking less than pleased. He followed her arrival with his eyes, surprised when she ignored him calling her and made a bee-line for her office. He pushed off his door, arriving in time to step into the office on her heels and shut the door behind them. She barely registered his presence, ripping into the package and dumping the contents out onto her desk. A single sheet of paper slid out, followed by a photograph. Nishikawa grabbed the photo, barely sparing it a glance before turning it over to read the message on the back. She cast it aside moments later pulling the paper, a medical report, into her hands immediately after. Rattled, she nearly leapt out of her skin when Naomasa came up behind her to peer over her shoulder.

"What's that?"

Nishikawa whirled, whipping him in the face with her hair as she turned. "What the h-!"

Naomasa keeled over, one hand pressed to his eyes attempting to sooth the sting. Nishikawa made a strangled sound in her throat, guiding him to the couch carefully as she apologized. He waved her off. He rubbed the last of the soreness from his eyes as he sat back. He raised an eyebrow at his partner.

"So, you going to tell me what's got you so strung up?"

"It's nothing."

"Yana, you literally nearly blinded me just now. I can tell when you're spooked."

"It's not that urgent. Why did we get called back in?"

He shot her a 'I'm-still-not-buying-it' look but shook his head. He pulled a file from his inside pocket, handing it to her. She flipped it open immediately and was greeted by a photograph of a young woman. Long, dark hair spilled down her shoulders, framing a heart-shaped face and hazel eyes. The report beneath identified her as Ayaka Tsukaida, a florist in her mid-twenties that resided on the other side of the city. The file listed her as a missing person. Nishikawa frowned at the report.

"Her mother reported her missing a week ago. Why is this only coming up now?"

"Keep reading."

She skimmed the report, glancing over the mother's initial statement about how her daughter 'would never do this' and skipping straight to the section on initial investigations. It was short and brief, and she could tell from the language that whoever had written it had been more than a little annoyed. At the bottom of the page was the stamp marking the case as closed.

"She's not missing?"

Naomasa made a face. "Not according to this. Someone looked into it, and her credit card is still active. It hasn't even left the city. And the mother even admitted that she got a phone call from her not two days ago. Mom is convinced something's up though. Said she sounded wrong on the phone and that something must be wrong. But nothing points to foul play."

"I still don't get it. Why is this coming to **us**? And now of all times?"

"She came back in half an hour ago. Said she got another phone call, wanted to know what kind of progress the investigation was making. When they told her we couldn't count her as a missing person she started asking for you by name."

Nishikawa frowned. "Me? Why?"

"Apparently someone recommended you."

Nishikawa flipped the report back to the front page. Nothing jumped out as unusual as she read it over more carefully. Naomasa waited until she had read it fully a second time before beckoning for the report. She handed it back and he tucked it under his arm.

"Why did they call us in though? This could have waited until tomorrow."

"She threw a tantrum. Refused to leave until she knew you were on the case. Long story short, when they couldn't get a hold of you they called me."

"Oh, sorry about this then."

Naomasa shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest with a flick of his wrist in the direction of her desk. "Honestly, I'm more concerned with whatever that was."

Nishikawa took a moment to stare into his face quietly. He looked serious, not angry but determined. She sighed, offering her hands palm up in surrender. Naomasa stepped past her to pull the papers off the desk. He grabbed the report first. The single sheet of paper was a medical report from just over four years ago. A man had been admitted to the hospital with severe injuries, least of which was a bullet wound to the stomach ad third-degree burns on most of his body. No name or date of birth was listed, and the stamp at the bottom showed that the patient had checked out only two hours after admittance against recommendation. He frowned, turning to the photo and glancing over the image of Nishikawa entering the police station before turning it over quickly.

'Avoiding me, Song Bird?'

Naomasa frowned at the words, turning the photograph over repeatedly as though looking for something more. Annoyed, Nishikawa snatched it from him as he turned it over for the fourth time. Naomasa turned on her. She held her ground, startled by the intensity suddenly radiating off him. Her quirk leapt to the forefront, unhelpfully supplying a more detailed analysis. His anger and annoyance pounded behind her eyes, prickling the edges of the newly healed scar on her head.

" **Please** tell me you reported this?"

"It just came in!"

He raised a brow, flapping the medical report still in his hand under her nose. "This is obviously not the first one."

"Look, it's not like I've been threatened. Just some creepy photos with vague notes attached."

"This is **clearly** harassment."

"No one could have done anything. Not legally."

Naomasa laughed humorlessly. "You think that would have stopped me?"

"No, I don't. Which is exactly **why** I didn't report it."

Naomasa took a startled step back like she had slapped him. His partner sighed, pacing back a few steps to deposit the photograph back onto her desk. She stared around the room for a moment, collecting her thoughts before turning back to him. He realized, not for the first time, how exhausted she looked.

"Look… I've got an idea what this is about, and if I'm right I can't involve just anyone. This case was supposed to be sealed and buried."

"So it's a case."

She heaved a sigh. "Yeah… sort of. Look, if it makes you feel better, I'll go to the chief in the morning. I've pretty much had my suspicions confirmed at this point."

Naomasa frowned at her, taking in the tired slump in her shoulders and the tightness in her face. She had pulled her hair up into a ponytail for once, and the unobstructed view of her face left no illusions about how seriously she was taking this. Finally he sighed, nodding somewhat reluctantly.

"Fine. Just promise me you're not in over your head on this?"

"I'll keep you as informed as I can."

"Fair enough… But you're staying in my guest room tonight."

A reluctant smile slid across her face. "Fair enough."

. . . . . . .

The next morning, Nishikawa arrived early. She made a bee-line for the chief's office, barely bothering to knock as she marched in. The man looked up startled as she burst in. Chief Tanaka Yadomaru cut an impressive profile sitting behind his desk. Edging into his mid-forties, broad-shouldered and tall, he possessed a heteromorphic quirk that lent his skin a grey, leathery appearance and shaped his body in sharp angular lines reminiscent of an angler fish. His limbs were elongated and double jointed in numerous strange places. Despite this, Nishikawa always found his presence reassuring. For once, however, the chief's strange presence did little to calm the manic energy and panic she had been supressing for almost a month. She dropped into the chair, slapping the three folders of photographs and the sealed file onto his desk.

"We have a problem."

The chief's face tilted inquisitively. He reached across the desk, his long arm angling oddly, and pulled the documents across the desk. He skimmed through the photographs, before moving on to the medical report and stopping when he came to the sealed file. He stared it down for a moment, then pushed it aside without opening it. He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his desk, lacing his fingers in front of his nose.

"How long?"

"The first two came about a month ago, then nothing until last night."

The chief nodded, glancing down at the files beside him again. "Why didn't you report this sooner?"

Nishikawa took a deep breath in through her nose. Fighting down the urge to raise her voice and throw a tantrum, she sat back in her seat and crossed her arms. She clenched her hands into the fabric of her sleeves to kept them there.

"I didn't report it, because it's impossible."

The chief seemed nonplused. "Evidently not."

Her nerves frayed. " **You** told me he was **dead**. And last time I checked, coming back to life is still **pretty** impossible." When the chief said nothing, she continued. "What have you not told me?"

The chief considered her briefly, the expression on his sharp, alien face similar to pity. Finally, after a long moment of silence he pushed himself abruptly to his feet. He walked around the desk. His slow methodical steps propelling him smoothly across the room in a few long strides. He shuffled around in a filing cabinet for a moment, before returning to his desk with a thick file. He dropped it heavily in front of Nishikawa, who eyed it suspiciously. He motioned her toward it as he walked back around his desk.

"That is the complete file of the incident four years ago. Uncensored. Unamended."

Nishikawa leaned forward and snatched it quickly off the desk. She skimmed through several pages concerning early events of the case, skipping straight to the final report. At the bottom of the last page, a list of deceased sat neatly in two columns. Halfway down the second column, a small star singled out one name. She read the footnote twice, then shut the file with shaking hands.

"'No body recovered?' How the absolute **hell** do you lose a body?"

"Nishikawa."

"No, Chief, this is ludicrous. That man was a lunatic and if I'd known there was even a slight chance he was still out there, I'd have- "

"You'd have what? He messed a lot of people up. Yourself included."

Nishikawa glanced sharply away. The moment of silence stretched. She sighed heavily, sagging back against her seat.

"I should have at least been told."

"A lot of consideration went in to that decision. We did not keep you in the dark lightly."

Nishikawa nodded slowly, still unhappy but accepting. "What now then?"

"I will have someone with the proper authorization look back into this. Starting with this new medical record." And then, looking more apologetic; "I will personally keep you updated on the progress. I am sorry to have deceived you about this. I wish it could have stayed buried."

Nishikawa nodded tersely, refusing to meet his eye. She fidgeted nervously for a moment, then motioned back toward the door. "I should get back to work then. Good day chief."

The chief dipped his head in acknowledgment. He watched her rise quickly and flee from his office. For a long moment, he sat at his desk unmoving. His eyes passed over the files on his desk, each second bringing more questions until finally, he sat back with a huff, shutting his eyes and tilting his head back to rest on the chair's backrest. A memory of a scene four year prior flashed in his mind; officers wounded, an old factory up in flames, the chemical smoke burning his nose. He sat up abruptly, slamming his hand down on his desk in frustration. Quickly, he reached for his office phone and dialed the only number he could think of.

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Feedback welcome!


	10. White Noise

CHAPTER 10 – WHITE NOISE

Nishikawa stormed out of the office, and almost slammed into Kurosawa. Dazed, he stumbled a few steps but managed to right himself without dropping any of the impressive pile of work he was carrying. Nishikawa struggled to compose herself, as she suddenly became aware that the bullring was empty. She glanced around, taking in the numerous empty desks in the officer area, the handful of officers still left working away diligently. She frowned as she turned back to Kurosawa, relieving him of half his stack without asking.

"Where'd everyone go?"

"Hm? Oh, there was an incident down with a bag snatcher, so a couple of officers got called to that. And then there was an attempted robbery. Oh, and a domestic dispute called the rest of the officers that are out plus some of the detectives."

Nishikawa frowned. "That seems a little overkill for a domestic dispute."

"I guess. Dispatch said it was a bit of a scene. The detectives went because they thought it was connected to one of their cases."

Nishikawa nodded, leaning against the wall as Kurosawa opened the door to his office with one hand. They shuffled in and deposited their stacks on the desk. Earlier confrontation momentarily set aside, Nishikawa smiled as she took in the small office. Kurosawa had half a dozen small bobble-heads lined up on his bookshelf, bookending the books and old files he kept there. His desk, minus the paperwork, was bare. Two semi-comfortable looking chairs sat across from his desk, and a file cabinet stood in the corner. Noticing her gaze, Kurosawa gave a lopsided smile.

"Honestly, I'm surprised they gave me the office at all."

"All detectives get one."

"Yeah, and I'm still a **junior** detective."

Nishikawa rolled her eyes, turning to face him properly. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Just means they expect big things from you."

Kurosawa wrinkled his nose. "Really? I thought it was so they could drown me in paperwork without flooding the whole bullring."

Nishikawa snorted and rolled her eyes. "Only if you become too annoying."

Kurosawa shot her a mock glare, looking more like a puppy play fighting than a grown man. Nishikawa offered him the most innocent look she could muster in return. When he rolled his eyes, she smiled more sincerely. She motioned to the enormous pile of reports on his desk.

"In all seriousness, this is quite a bit of work…"

Kurosawa shrugged. "The chief has me fielding a lot of cases to redistribute among the detectives."

Nishikawa's eyebrows rose. "They're expecting big things indeed."

Another shrug. "I guess."

Nishikawa nudged him playfully. "Have a little faith, Kurosawa. One day you might even have an office with a couch!"

He laughed outright, and Nishikawa laughed along. Then, noticing the time, she excused herself quickly and walked briskly back to her office. She stopped in long enough to collect the missing girl's file from her desk before lopping back out and heading to Naomasa's office. The door was shut, and she could hear muffled voices through the door. She leaned against the wall beside the door, staring across the bullring at the clock mounted above the elevator and deciding resolutely to wait ten minutes before knocking. She let her mind wander, eyes drifting across the activity in the bullring without seeing as her mind wandered from one thought to another. Distracted, Nishikawa did not notice her own quirk slowly intensifying until she became acutely aware of everyone around her all at once.

The handful of officers sitting at their desks each radiating a similar sense of boredom, their individuality punctuated by small flashes of anxiety or humor. Kurosawa in his office, resolutely focused on a case as he sifted through gruesome details that sent spikes of discomfort and horror lancing through her skull. The chief in his office still seething and worrying over their meeting that morning and all his other responsibilities. And behind her, two presences; Naomasa and another person she recognized distinctly but could not place. Her mind sifted through the list of people she knew well enough to recognize by the sense of their mind alone and came up short. Baffled, she went over the list again in her mind but stopped short when the door swung open beside her.

Still semi-dazed from her quirk's unexpected take-over, Nishikawa stared dumbly for a moment as Naomasa stepped out of his office followed by his guest. The first thing that registered was the ridiculous hair, standing out like gaudy bunny ears. She blinked. The smile came into focus next, and then eyes so ridiculously blue she thought she was staring at a star. Something in her mind shifted at the thought and she frowned as another, similar pair of eyes flashed across her mind. She shook herself mentally, realizing Naomasa was talking to her.

"-could have just knocked."

She blinked hard once, trying to look like she had caught everything he said.

"I wasn't waiting that long. And I didn't want to disturb in case it was important."

She turned to offer All Might a tight smile. "Good morning."

"Good morning. Are you feeling better?"

Nishikawa went to respond instinctively before something in his phrasing caught her attention. "Better?"

All Might fidgeted, suddenly looking horrified. Beside him, Naomasa's face went carefully blank. The hero cleared his throat awkwardly, stumbling over his response unintelligibly until he finally seemed to collect himself.

"I u-uh… I just meant, I saw you on my way in this morning. You seemed to be in a bad mood."

"Right…"

Naomasa cleared his throat abruptly. "Didn't you need to be going, All Might?"

Looking relieved, the hero nodded enthusiastically. He excused himself quickly. Naomasa waved toward his office with one hand, telling Nishikawa to get settled while he walked All Might out. She shrugged, still looking suspiciously between the two men before turning away to settle on her partner's couch. She completely missed the look Naomasa shot at his friend as she turned away. The two men did not speak until they were at the elevator.

"What was that?" Naomasa hissed.

"I'm sorry! She has been helping to train young Midoriya. It slipped my mind."

Naomasa shot him the most annoyed look he could muster. "Are you kidding me with this? If you're getting this familiar just tell her already."

The elevator doors slid open then and the hero took the moment to disguise his own guilty expression. He turned to face his friend as he jammed a thumb into the control panel. His face twisted with his internal conflict.

"You know why I cannot do that."

"No, I know why you think you can't do it. This is ridiculous-!"

He was cut off by the elevator doors sliding shut between them. He huffed annoyed, racking a hand through his hair as a headache began to pound behind his eyes. He pulled a deep breath in through his nose, fighting down frustration as he crossed the bullring back to his office.

Nishikawa barely looked up as he stepped into the office. She leafed through the report, stopping every few pages to read a section again. Naomasa dropped into his chair with a groan.

"Everything okay?"

Naomasa nodded, though he knew she would not see. "Yeah, don't worry about it."

"What was he here for anyway?"

"Oh, he was just concerned for a mutual friend of ours. Anyway, let's get to work."

"I'm not sure there's much work to do. Her credit card is still active and in the city, she's making frequent calls on her cell phone. There's even a statement from her roommate in here saying she met a guy." Nishikawa looked up at her partner. "Are we sure the mother isn't just overreacting."

"She threw a pretty serious tantrum yesterday. Besides, how hard can it be to find this girl with all that info? Let's just find her and put this woman's fears to rest."

"Alright, well it looks like she's staying pretty frequently at this high-class hotel down by the train station. Shall we go check it out then?"

. . . . . . .

All Might walked out of the police station purposefully. His mind buzzed with worry, replaying the moment outside of Naomasa's office on a loop. He had gone in that morning to check in with Naomasa, more than a little concerned about the conversation he had shared with the man's partner the night before. He had received little reassurance in return, only news of strange threatening messages that she refused to explain. So when they had crossed paths in the station, too caught up in speculation, he had completely forgotten that their conversation the day before had been under his true persona. Another wave of anxiety and, surprisingly, embarrassment washed through him. Desperate to side-track himself, he thought about Midoriya's training. Four months in and showing signs of overwork. Yagi shook his head, equal parts impressed and annoyed. He found it difficult to be concerned, or at least as concerned as he thought he should be, considering the progress the boy was making. Particularly with the help Nishikawa had offered in his combat training. Yagi groaned as his mind circled back to her and, subsequently, the incident less than five minutes prior.

His pace quickened, and he ducked into an abandoned alley, allowing his hero form to slip away. Yagi stumbled out of the other end of the alley, clutching his scar as the usual twinge rippled through him. He wheezed, doubling over just a little more than usual to try to alleviate the uncomfortable stretch on his scar. A man walking beside him shot him a concerned look but moved on without saying anything. When the pain eased, Yagi quickened his pace maneuvering deftly through the throng of people. His apartment building came into view at the end of the block.

He was nearly at the door when something caught his attention. From the small space between his apartment building and the condemned building beside it voices rose in semi-hushed conversation. Yagi's hero instincts kicked in. He slowed his pace, glancing around carefully for anyone on watch, before stopping entirely just shy of the opening. He peered around the corner carefully. The space, too small to realistically be called an alley, was cluttered with soggy half-melted cardboard boxes and trash bags. At the end, half-hidden beneath the crumbling fire escape of an adjacent building, to figures stood huddling in conversation. One stood with his back to the alley's mouth, an indistinguishable shape wrapped in an oversized trench coat that made them appear short and squat. The other stood facing the street, at an angle so the shadows cast strange patterns across his form and worked like camouflage on their dark hair and clothes. Clearly, both were upset, and their voices rose and fell with the cadence of an argument making no headway. He thought they sounded male; one older and gravely with age, the other smooth and charismatic even at a distance. Yagi strained for snatches of conversation.

"-to **risky** … never leaves the-"

"-not the point-"

"-get caught-"

"-already destabilized-"

"- **knew** something was wrong-"

There was a lull where their voices dipped into harsh whispers and Yagi could make nothing out. Then as though the argument had never happened, the dark man clapped his companion on the shoulder. He retreated, taking a step back into the recesses of the alley and seeming to disappear into a wall of pure shadow. Yagi blinked. Once. Twice. The man was gone. He craned his neck to get a better view of the alley. Remembering the other man just in time, Yagi ducked back out of view as the man turned and made his way back toward the street. Not wanting to get caught Yagi hurried to merge back with the crowd, he shuffled the last few feet to the apartment building's door. He stopped at the door, taking his time with it to casually glance back at the alley's mouth.

The man emerged a moment later, pulling his coat tight around him. He was middle-aged, not quite as old as Yagi had assumed from his voice, but just as squat as his silhouette had hinted. His hair was a thining, starchy color kept combed back from his face. He looked like an old businessman. Vaguely, Yagi recognized him from the elevator, the night Nishikawa had all but fled her apartment. The man glanced around him as he emerged from the alley. He had a mean, look to him that Yagi found altogether startling, until a moment later it vanished so smoothly he thought he had imagined it.

Their eyes met briefly, and Yagi cringed, hurrying into the building like a hunted creature. The security guard at the desk waved vaguely, while a couple stood at the elevator waiting. He ducked into the mailbox alcove, keeping an eye on the door. For a long moment, nothing happened. The security guard coughed, and the elevator doors slid open to welcome the couple who stepped in without pause. Just as the doors began to slide closed, the man marched into the building. His eyes swept the room, taking in first the security guard then the elevator doors sliding shut with a gentle swish. The man made a vaguely frustrated noise, marching toward the stairs and wrenching the fire door open with force. He stormed out of sight and Yagi sighed. He crept back out carefully, nearly jumping out of his skin when the security guard chuckled.

"What'd you do to **him**?"

"Wh-u-uh… Nothing."

The security guard made a vaguely unimpressed face. He pointed at the staircase and slightly up, as though he could pinpoint exactly where the man was in the stairwell.

"Guy's been livin' here for almost four years. He's never come in in such a huff. Leastwise not like that."

"I had nothing to do with his mood. I just ran into him outside."

"Mhm… Listen, I don't really care. Dude gives me the heebie-jeebies anyway. Always comin' and goin' at odd hours, always looking so… beige."

Yagi faltered. "Beige?"

"Ye, like the kind of guy you'd never notice or pay attention to."

"But you pay attention?"

"Like I said, dude creeps me out. There's somethin' just not right about him. He's too-"

"Beige?" Yagi offered.

The guard snorted. "Exactly."

Yagi nodded slowly like he thought the guard might go completely unhinged at any moment. "…Right."

The guard shrugged. "Either way, you'd best get goin'. He's comin' back down the stairs like somethin' bit him."

Yagi made a surprised face. The guard winked. "Heat signature. Off you go now."

With a curt nod, Yagi hurried back out the door. He crossed the street quickly, cursing his height for the first time in a long time as he maneuvered through the crowds of people. He turned the corner in no time, but only stopped to check behind him several blocks later. When he found no signs of pursuit, he allowed himself to relax. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Naomasa.

SOMETHING STRANGE HAPPENING AT THE APARTMENT. KEEP NISHIKAWA AWAY. -Yagi

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Feedback welcome!


	11. More in Sorrow Than in Anger

Hi Everyone! I've finally updated all the previous chapters and will be (hopefully) returning to posting new chapters semi-regularly. To everyone who has been waiting for this story to update and who have been so supportive as I wrote this, thank you so much for your support and I apologie for the long hiatus. It means a lot to me that so many people have like this story as much as they have.

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CHAPTER 11 – MORE IN SORROW THAN IN ANGER

Naomasa felt his phone vibrate in his pocket at he stepped out of the cruiser. He checked the caller ID absentmindedly. He frowned when Yagi's name popped up and made to open the text when Nishikawa's voice distracted him.

"What's up?"

He jerked, surprised, and hastily shoved his phone back into his pocket. She raised a brow, smirking slightly as he maneuvered around the car to join her on the curb. He shot her an annoyed glare as her smirk stretched wider. He cringed, anticipating her teasing.

"Star-spangles making a call of the indecent kind?"

Naomasa sputtered. "A **what** **now**?"

She laughed. "Relax, I'm joking."

"You're as bad as Kurosawa…"

Nishikawa snorted, nudging him lightly with her shoulder when his scowl remained firmly in place. His mouth twitched, and a moment later his face relaxed entirely. Shaking his head, he stepped past her toward their destination. The hotel was one of the tallest structures in the city. Standing well over forty floors high it was the pinnacle of luxury in the city; the lower floors dedicated to restaurants and boutiques while the upper floors were all private penthouse suites. The lobby had an assortment of patrons, management staff and waiters bustling around busily. The marble floor was polished to mirror smoothness and, coupled with the excessive lighting and chandeliers, lit so brightly it was nearly blinding.

The doorman greeted them with a look of barely contained disdain, and Nishikawa tugged at her wrinkled shirt self-consciously as they crossed the main floor. Beside her, Naomasa rolled his eyes at her reaction but could not help the impulse to smooth a hand through his ever-present hat hair. They approached the desk together, flashing badges. The desk staff's faces went carefully devoid of emotion and Nishikawa rolled her eyes. Resigning herself to a difficult conversation, Nishikawa let her partner take the lead. Naomasa stepped forward to talk to the clerk as Nishikawa scanned the movement around her, allowing her quirk to provide a read on the building.

The typical supercharge of emotion of a crowded public space pressed in on her senses. And then more distantly; something familiar and distressing. Nishikawa jerked as she reigned her quirk back under control, stumbling into Naomasa as he spoke with the clerk. His questions hardly faltered at the impact, but he shot her a vaguely concerned glance over his shoulder. She waved him off, turning her head away to try and hide her expression. Ten minutes of questioning and cajoling later, the clerk handed them a key-card and a room number with an annoyed sniff and a muttered comment on 'customer confidentiality'. The two detectives shared a vaguely amused glance as the crossed the lobby to the elevator.

"How'd you get him to give us a key?"

Naomasa rolled his eyes. "I reminded him that us coming back with a warrant to search the hotel was hardly good for business."

Nishikawa snorted. "Or 'customer confidentiality'."

Naomasa rolled his eyes, jamming the elevator call button distractedly as he let his eyes scan the lobby. Seconds later, the doors slid open with a light-hearted chime and the two stepped in. Nishikawa's eyebrows rose as she took in the room number on the card.

"Top floor? Man, this girl really wants to impress her new boyfriend…"

Naomasa rolled his eyes jokingly. "What? You've never wanted to impress a date?"

Nishikawa shot him a flat, unimpressed look and he laughed outright. She smiled a moment before the expression slid into confusion.

"She must have spent nearly a quarter of a million paying for this room for a month… There's no way she can afford that."

"Maybe her boyfriend is pitching in."

"Or maybe she's spiraling into debt for a boy."

Naomasa shrugged. "You'd be surprised what someone would do for love."

"…doubt it…"

Naomasa's head swiveled toward her quickly in surprise. Nishikawa winced as the elevator stopped, grateful for the distraction. The doors slid open a moment later, and their conversation was immediately dismissed from both their minds. An ornate, mahogany door stood in front of them leading directly into the elevator. The wall around it looked like it was made of solid black marble. Recovering from the shock, Naomasa stepped forward to swipe the key card and open the door. The interior was just as ornate. The white floors were polished to a shine, while the walls were lined with intricate gilded frames housing paintings and mirrors in equal measure. The furniture was all done in dark leather and polished wood. From the elevator, they could see more doors branching off from the main living space. They stepped in cautiously, staring around in awe. Nishikawa took the lead, wandering hesitantly into the living space, checking for any danger as she passed while Naomasa walked behind her doing the same.

When they were sure the adjacent rooms were empty, they made their way into the bedroom. The sheets had been dragged from the bed, spilling off one side onto the nightstand. Clothes lay strewn around carelessly, and a cursory glance into the adjoining bathroom showed it to be in the same state. Nishikawa, feeling something twist in her gut, pulled her weapon from its holster at her waist. Naomasa followed suit, staring around as he called out into the suite.

"Mrs. Tsukaida? Ayaka? This is the police. Your mother has been concerned about you."

Nishikawa frowned. "Are we sure she's here?"

Naomasa shrugged, eyes still scanning their surroundings. "Front desk said she was."

"Maybe they missed her as she left?"

He shook his head. "Elevator's monitored."

Nishikawa frowned, lifting her hand to motion Naomasa to wait. Taking a deep breath, Nishikawa let her mind reach out. Her quirk kicked in. The rush of the crowd in the floors below them tugged distantly at her senses. The familiar, distressing feeling had migrated to somewhere below her and she realized with a start that it is was a familiar sense of malice that twisted like a knife in her gut. She took a deep breath to steady herself, forcing herself to focus solely on the floor they were on. Something brushed against her senses and Nishikawa made a confused noise in her throat as she struggled to recall the floor plan.

"Does this floor have roof access?"

Naomasa shook his head, going pale. "Is she…?"

"I don't think so. It's sort of… hazy. There's definitely something weird going on though."

They made their way back toward the elevator. The floor plan was tacked to the wall beside the elevator, in a gilded frame more luxurious than any of the others on the floor. They took a moment to locate the stairs, hidden behind a utility closet set well back from the main lounge. Nishikawa rolled her eyes, silently making a note to have a word with the manager about fire safety. After a brief check of the stairwell, they took the stairs two at a time heading for the roof. Somewhere below them, a door slammed shut and the sound echoed up to them distantly. Nishikawa felt unease creep through her system. They exchanged a glance as they came up to the roof access door. Checking quickly with her quirk, Nishikawa confirmed one person on the roof standing well away from the door.

Naomasa pushed the door open carefully, taking the lead and sweeping the roof once before moving on. Nishikawa followed behind, covering his back and sweeping over the roof carefully herself. The roof was a barren expanse of concrete, with nothing but a few vents and the single outcropping structure of the door planted firmly in the center. As the tallest structure in the city, the view stretched away for miles in every direction, unobstructed. A woman was balancing on the ledge across from the door, staring down toward the road directly below her. Dark hair shorn short around her head fluttered in the wind in tandem with her thin nightgown. Even turned away, both detectives immediately recognized the woman they were looking for. Naomasa stepped forward cautiously, stowing his weapon in a slow careful movement after a final sweep of the roof. Nishikawa followed his lead, inching closer alongside him until they stood only a few feet away. Naomasa cleared his throat.

"Ms. Tsukaida? We're detectives. Your mother sent us. She's been worried about you."

The woman on the ledge barely moved to acknowledge their presence. Tilting her head just barely far enough to glance at them over her shoulder.

"Detective Nishikawa?"

Nishikawa startled visibly, and Naomasa shot her a confused glance. Swallowing against the roiling in her gut, Nishikawa took another step toward the girl. She held her hands up placatingly, although the woman had turned away again to look out over the city. She spoke into the wind, her voice carried back to them with a wisp-like quality.

"He said you would come." The woman took a deep, trembling breath and slowly began to turn toward them. "He really does know everything, my _Sovereign_."

Nishikawa felt her skin crawl at the name, panic spiking through her. Adrenaline kicked her system into overdrive as she remembered the malice she had traced earlier in the hotel. The girl fell back into perfect stillness facing them. Her skin was paler than the photograph, drawn tighter over her features and adding to her hollowed appearance. Behind her, Naomasa mind kicked into overdrive; a faint buzz at the back of her senses. Her quirk kicked into action, focused intently on the girl on the ledge. Her emotions assaulted her senses and threatened to overthrow her.

Fear, anger, and grief swirled through her head violently, trying to pull her in and clouding her vision. Her quirk responded, and she stepped forward subconsciously. Beside her, Naomasa shifted tensely. Slowly, careful not to touch her skin, he took a hold of her wrist to stop her progress. Jarred, Nishikawa shook herself from her stupor, turning away from the girl and toward her partner. He was staring at her, concern for her and suspicion at the whole situation jostling for dominance on his features. She offered him a tight nod, and he shifted closer to talk to her quietly over her shoulder.

"Sovereign?"

Nishikawa's shoulders squared. "I'll explain later. For right now, just remember dangerous and scary mind quirk."

She turned back to the girl on the ledge. "Ms. Tsukaida? Ayaka? Can I call you Ayaka? We need you to step away from the ledge, okay?"

"He said you were the best singer he'd ever seen. Better than anyone. I never could do it right…"

Nishikawa suppressed a shudder as the dazed, almost doll-like look in her eyes was suddenly replaced with sharp, deep grief.

"He doesn't even **want** me, does he?"

Naomasa moved to stand beside Nishikawa, catching her eye through his periphery and nodding subtly. She nodded back, edging slightly closer to the distraught girl as Naomasa's hand circled her wrist to ground her. She let her quirk reach out again, shivering slightly at the immediate pull to **fix**. The emotions filtering into her senses were powerful but strangely muddled, as though she was perceiving them through a filter. Distantly she recognized it as another mind-quirk's influence. She tamped down the frustration and horror at the realization, focusing back onto the girl as her distress became overwhelming.

"He wants **her**."

She tottered backward, toward the ledge, as tears slowly slipped down her face. Naomasa moved a step forward and she whirled on him. Her emotions roiled out of control and Nishikawa felt herself slipping beyond the control of her quirk. The line blurred between her and the woman on the ledge. The hand around her wrist tightened but she barely felt it. The girl screamed something, and she registered the burn in her own vocal cords. Her head spun, Naomasa yanked on her arm hard and the jolt ricocheted up into her shoulder, strong enough to pull her awareness back into focus. She came back to herself, still acutely aware of the other girl's spiraling emotions. She was distraught now, gut-wrenchingly heartbroken in a way that left Nishikawa breathless from the pain.

Half-dazed, Nishikawa locked eyes with the distressed woman. She saw the grief fill her face and overtake all other emotion, just as the inkling of an intent formed. She moved before even fully realizing it, throwing herself forward a moment before the woman allowed herself to slip back off the ledge. Her hand closed around her ankle, gripping like a vice as her momentum dragged Nishikawa over the ledge head-first. She felt a rush of helpless fear as her upper body slid out over the ledge and into the open air. A moment later she felt Naomasa's hands fall heavily against her back, looping into her belt and dragging her backward to safety. She changed her grip on the girl, using her other hand to pull the other up as her body stabilized and Naomasa circled round to help her drag the limp girl back over the ledge.

As soon as her body breached the ledge the girl started squirming, throwing her weight in every direction as hard as she could. Quickly, what started out as dazed, weak struggling turned into a full-blown mania and she struggled and screamed against the two detectives. The full force of her frenzy struck Nishikawa like a physical blow and she grit her teeth against the way it slammed against her nose like a punch. Naomasa reeled as an elbow connected with his throat and sent him tumbling back with a wheeze. Nishikawa felt her own panic rise up sharply, her quirk lurching into full gear and suddenly the screaming was everywhere; burning her throat, tearing at her eardrums, pounding in her skull. And then everything went still.

Nishikawa and Naomasa both sat up abruptly as the girl went limp. They settled her on the floor, lying flat on her back a safe distance from the edge. Naomasa pulled out his cellphone, calling for an ambulance and backup to assist in a sweep of the building and further investigation. Nishikawa sat beside the woman, head spinning as she struggled to repress the shock slowly pulsing through her system. Naomasa came back to crouch beside her just as the world shifted out of focus and she tipped sideways into darkness.

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Feedback is always welcome!


	12. Compassion Fatigue

Hey! This is my first chapter coming off a long writing hiatus. So I'd like to say sorry for the long wait! I'll do my best to keep a relatively regular posting schedule.

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CHAPTER 12 – COMPASSION FATIGUE

 _The lights in her small room flickered on, a sudden flash intense enough to momentarily blind her. She flinched, long dark hair tumbling from its lose constraints at the sudden movement. The massive bed dipped as another weight settled beside her on the edge of the mattress, the silk sheets crumpling beneath them. A large hand appeared in her field of vision, pulling the curtain of hair away gently and tucking it behind her ear. She stared down at her feet, toes curling into the carpet. The hand moved to cradle her face, sliding across her cheek to pinch her chin lightly and push her head up. Her body complied without hesitation._

" _What are you doing hiding away in here, lovely?"_

 _She struggled to remember. "I… don't remember…"_

 _Her companion chuckled. She struggled to focus, her mind felt sluggish, fogging and fraying at the edges. She was forgetting something important, the sensation a constantly niggling in her mind. She took in the man sitting beside her; slim built with dark, slick hair and a clean-shaven face. She smiled at him without knowing why. He smiled back, lips pulling away from pearly teeth and crow's feet crinkling around his eyes. She thought he was the most beautiful man alive. He smoothed a hand down her head, smoothing her hair._

" _You've done such a wonderful job, pet."_

 _She could barely remember what he was talking about, could scarcely focus on the words enough to make sense of them. She beamed at the praise anyway. He stroked her hair a few more times, the smile slowly fading. She felt her own smile dim, concerned. She opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong but was cut off abruptly. His eyes flashed as his hand clamped down hard on the lower half of her face. Her jaw popped from the pressure, but she remained still. The man slowly brought a finger to his lips. All of a sudden, she felt stupid; incredibly stupid. How could she think to talk without permission? He was so good to her, he even came looking for her when she had locked herself in her room for no reason. She felt tears well up and roll down her face, and her companion jerked away suddenly. He wiped his hand on the bed sheets like he touched something disgusting and stood, wandering to the door sedately before shooting her a brief appraising glance._

" _Come, pet. We've more work to do."_

 _She shot to her feet, eager to please. As she crossed the room, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in a mirror. She registered the paleness of her skin and the loose, untended curl of her hair without taking it in. Her face looked hollow. Vaguely, she took not of the tear tracks on her skin and felt a prickle of confusion. Had she been crying? A moment later, she reached the man at the door and she forgot everything but his presence as he looped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her out. He pressed a kiss to her temple, whispering against her skin._

" _My Song Bird."_

. . . . . . .

The first breath after an episode was always the worst. It tore through her lungs, leaving Nishikawa choking against air. She rolled onto her side sputtering. Somewhere nearby a door opened and closed loudly, and suddenly there were hands pulling on her shoulders to lie her on her back. Black hair, relieved of their usual hat, and dark eyes clouded with their usual anxiety came into view above her. Naomasa's face was drawn, and he looked away from her long enough to beckon someone else into the room. A woman she did not recognize came in and stood on her other side; long silvery hair, pale skin, and pitch-black eyes so dark even the sclera disappeared into darkness. She had a calm air to her, calm and detached in an almost hypnotizing way. It took Nishikawa a moment to realize she was speaking.

"-need you to calm down before I can take off the oxygen mask."

Nishikawa blinked. Once. Twice. She forced her breathing to follow the same pattern. In. Out. The next moment, the woman was nodding. She reached around Nishikawa's head, prying away the oxygen mask with gentle practiced fingers before turning away to turn off the machine. Naomasa reappeared in her field of vision as the nurse exited. Her quirk jumped away from the woman and turned its full attention on her partner. Relief bloomed behind her eyes like a cool ice pack, dampened only by the grating annoyance and concern that bunched her shoulders.

She gave him a flat look, annoyance shooting to the forefront of her addled mind as she registered her surroundings. "You took me to the hospital."

He returned the gesture with an equally unimpressed stare. "Of course I did! You're lucky the chief managed to talk the doctors into just putting you on an air mask instead of hospitalizing you for a day."

Nishikawa stiffened at the comment. "The chief is here?"

"Yes. He said he wanted to speak with you first about what happened but apparently the case is being taken out of our hands."

"What?"

Nishikawa struggled to push herself up, fighting against her stomach as vertigo tore through her. She settled for propping herself on her elbows as the chief strode into the room accompanied by a doctor. His aura encompassed the room entirely, and Nishikawa found it hard to focus on Naomasa standing beside her. She allowed him to help her into a sitting position on the edge of the bed, forcing deep breaths past her clenched teeth as nausea sent her gut roiling. The doctor stepped out from behind the chief and strode over to the bedside. He was a small man; squat, with a wide face and an almost bored look in his eyes. As the designated doctor for the police officers, Shibuya Kenta was accustomed to periodic visits from many, if not all the detectives on active duty. As one of his most frequent visitors, Nishikawa was accustomed to the deadpan stare he fixed on her as he set about checking her vitals.

She anticipated the small flashlight he pulled from his breast pocket but jerked anyway as the light was leveled at her pupils. He checked both eyes quickly, before moving on to her reflexes. Eventually, he had her stand, arms outstretched ahead of her and eyes closed. He pressed down on one hand, lowering it to her side and instructing her to bring it back to its outstretched position. She did this twice with both hands before he was satisfied enough to move on to the next test. Ten minutes later, after a balance test and a rigorous grilling of her memory, the doctor announced her healthy enough for discharge. He offered her a single tablet of painkillers before marching out of the room with a satisfied nod.

Distracted as she was by the doctor's coming and going, Nishikawa barely registered the other two people in the room until the chief dragged another chair over to her bedside. The dull grating noise as the plastic chair slid across the ground send a shiver down her spine, as the room spun sharply into focus. Nishikawa struggled a moment, her quirk's sudden hyperactivity doing little to settle her already roiling stomach. The chief had the courtesy to wait for her to compose herself, but she could still feel his emotions like a physical force radiating across the small space even after battling her quirk back like a rabid creature.

Annoyance and concern prickled beneath her fingernails, and Nishikawa clenched her hands against the feeling. Beneath it all, a vein of fear that was only just held in check tugged at her attention. Her quirk's natural instinct to meddle kicked in and she tightened her hands until her nails bit into her palm to quell the feeling.

Nishikawa swallowed hard. "Chief?"

He was calmer than she thought possible when he spoke. "You're off this case."

She could tell from the sudden squareness of his shoulders and the way the tension radiated up her neck and into her skull, that Naomasa expected her to protest. Instead, she nodded slowly as she readjusted herself to sit more comfortably. A hundred questions buzzed through her mind, but she settled on the least damming.

"How is that girl?"

"Fine." The chief answered curtly. "She's been sedated and will remain under surveillance for the next 48 hours."

Nishikawa nodded and the chief continued in the same even tone.

"Her mother will be arriving shortly. Before she does, I would like to have the details clear about what happened on the rooftop."

Nishikawa felt cold dread drop into her gut like a stone. She took a deep breath in through her nose and forced herself to nod. The memory of the rooftop alone was enough to revive the feeling of frenzied mania that had pulsed beneath her skin. She took a moment to close her eyes and center herself.

"We arrived at the hotel just after 10 AM and were granted access to Mrs. Tsukaida's suite. When we arrived the suite was empty. A quick sweep showed signs of a rapid departure. I used my quirk to try and locate the occupants of the suite and located her on the roof as someone else left via the stairwell to the lower floors. When we arrived she was standing on the ledge but appeared relatively stable."

Nishikawa paused. The memory of the strangely intense yet dull emotions she had perceived on the rooftop vaguely unsettling even in the harsh bright light of the hospital room.

"She- Mrs. Tsukaida said someone had told her I would be coming. When she became distraught she… um… allowed herself to fall. Thankfully detective Naomasa and I were within reach and managed to pull her back onto the roof. When she resisted I was forced to use my quirk to subdue her."

The chief's jaw worked a few times before he spoke. "The person in the stairwell?"

She cleared her throat. "Unidentified…"

Her boss frowned at her openly. "Nishikawa."

"I can't… I can't be sure who it was just from a feeling. But he wasn't your regular Joe, and he was definitely bad news."

"And did she give you a name?"

Nishikawa sighed. "Sovereign."

They settled into silence for a moment, the stillness like a carefully crafted poker face. She could feel the chief's tension like a rubber band around her skull. The chief sighed heavily, leaning forward to brace an elbow against his knee and hide his face for a moment.

"I'm giving you a protection detail."

Nishikawa froze. "Chief…"

"This is non-negotiable. You're to stay with Naomasa at all times. Other officers will monitor you during the day. A selection of detectives will be sent to secure your apartment building and should that prove unsuitable we will arrange for a safe house. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Chief."

Nishikawa slid carefully off the hospital bed, as Naomasa stood and offered her work boots. She pulled them on sluggishly, breathing deeply through her nose to keep her steadily rising anxiety at bay. When she straightened, both men were watching her carefully. She swallowed thickly and offered them both a tight smile. Her superior heaved a deep breath, studying her sadly.

"I am sorry it's come to this. I will try and keep this as unobtrusive as I can. You are being permitted to continue working, but for obvious reasons, your cases will be more closely monitored from now on."

With that, the man rose as well and made for the door.

"Chief?"

Nishikawa cleared her throat against the gritty, tight feeling in her throat as the man in question stopped with his hand on the door handle.

"Permission to inform Detective Naomasa on the full details of the situation?"

The chief turned back to the duo still standing by the abandoned cot. He took a moment to consider them, before nodding. He gave a curt nod, offering Naomasa a look that bordered on sympathy, before turning and leaving the room. He paused outside the door, collecting the two men he had left standing guard. Naomasa felt a cold sweat break out on his back, and he turned to his partner. Nishikawa was carefully readjusting the collar of her blouse, avoiding his eye as she edged toward the door. When she ran out of excuses to avoid his eye, she made a vague gesture to the hall.

"Better head out."

Naomasa nodded. "You finally going to explain what's been going on?"

Nishikawa sighed heavily. "Yeah."

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Feedback always welcome!


	13. Cellar Full of Noise

CHAPTER 13 - CELLAR FULL OF NOISE

Yagi checked his phone for the third time in as many hours, noting the time distractedly as he refreshed his messaging app. Nearly four hours since the strange encounter in the alleyway and his ensuing flight from the apartment building. He had received no indication that his text had been heeded, or even opened for that matter, and the more time went by the more his gut told him something was deeply wrong. More than once, Yagi had caught himself wondering why exactly he had left the way he had and questioning the events he remembered. Several times, he had found himself dismissing the entire event, before the memory of the brief flash of rage outside the alleyway resurfaced abruptly. He stowed his phone back in his pocket and turned his attention back to the small lunch he'd managed to acquire from the grocery store's pre-packaged section. He sighed down at the meal in his lap, plain enough to avoid upsetting what was left of his stomach.

He had avoided the general area of his apartment for almost two hours before he deemed it safe enough to circle back and settle down to wait closer to the police station. The small park he had settled in offered no real strategic advantage, except for the shade and a half-decent view of the station when he craned his neck. He had resolved to wait five more minutes before walking into the station to see Naomasa himself when a string of five officers left the station together. An unusual sight on its own, Yagi tracked their movement down the street until they disappeared in the general direction of the apartment. He checked his phone a fourth time. Nothing. Yagi stood from the bench, dumping out what was left of his meal, and started after the group of officers.

He caught up to them just over a block later. Upon closer inspection, Yagi realized the group was made up of three police officers, and two senior detectives he had seen in a debriefing a few weeks ago. They were dressed in their regular attire, but the hero's practiced eye could just make out the creases and bumps that gave away bulletproof vests hidden beneath clothing and sidearms concealed in easily accessible places. Yagi crossed the street and quickened his pace, reaching the apartment building just ahead of them. He ducked into the mail alcove for the second time that day, holding his breath while he waited to see if they were, in fact, coming into the building.

Less than a minute later, the two senior officers walked in. They made a direct line to the guard's desk and began talking with the man there in quiet voices. A few moments later, the rest of the officers walked in and joined the duo at the desk. Realizing it would be suspicious for him to remain in the alcove any longer, should the security man at the desk choose to mention it. He hurried out from the alcove, calling the elevator and thanking the heavens when the doors opened almost immediately.

When he was safely back on his own floor, he stopped for a moment in the hallway, watching the numbers above the doors as the elevator went straight back down to the first floor and then immediately back up to the top floor. Yagi frowned. From what he remembered, Nishikawa's apartment was on the top floor. He checked his phone again. Still nothing. For the first time, Yagi wished he had come up with an excuse to get Nishikawa's number. Instead, he settled for texting Naomasa again.

HAS SOMETHING HAPPENED? -Yagi

Feeling helpless, Yagi returned to his apartment. He was just settling into the couch in his living room when the sounds of a commotion filtered in from outside. Back on alert, Yagi wandered over to the window, leaning in as close as he could without abandoning the shadows that concealed him from view. Out on the sidewalk below, an older woman was stooping to collect the contents of a couple of grocery bags. Two younger women had stopped to help, collecting a few items which had rolled further away. They offered their haul to the old woman, who thanked them profusely and blushed in embarrassment. A few feet away, a middle-aged man in a trench coat hurried away with his shoulders tense and his head down. No one noticed as he moved through the crowd.

Yagi stood at the window for several moments wondering where he had seen the man before. Twice he tried to dismiss it as nothing. A man in a trenchcoat could be mistaken for anyone. Yet his mind continued niggling him, circling the scene like he was missing something obvious. He was turning away, ready to dismiss the entire thing, when he caught sight of the mouth of the alley and everything abruptly fell into place. Disturbed that he had forgotten something so disturbing, and so **recent** , Yagi marched out of his apartment resolving to head down to the police station immediately.

. . . . . . .

Naomasa shut the door to his office with a gentle click. Barely two in the afternoon and he could feel his exhaustion like a weight in his bones. Vaguely, he wondered if Nishikawa registered this kind of exhaustion with her quirk, before deciding it would probably do her some good. She had been keyed up since the start of the day, and ever since the unfortunate incident on the roof, she had seemed to be struggling with her quirk more than usual. As it was, she was currently sitting on his couch, folded over and looking very nauseated. Naomasa grabbed the trash can from beside his desk and deposited it gently at her feet before sitting down on the opposite end of the couch, between her and the door. She looked up at him, an attempt at a smile curling the corners of her lips.

"I promise I won't throw up on your couch."

Naomasa chuckled. "I would hope so. You practically live on this couch."

"Not my fault you can't get through your own paperwork."

They both laughed weakly at that, before lapsing into silence. Nishikawa had straightened into a less worrying position, elbows on her knees and with her interlaced fingers dangling between them. She looked tired, Naomasa realized, had been looking tired for weeks.

"How long have you been sleeping at the station?"

Nishikawa twitched. "Since the photos started."

"And those started when exactly?"

"Just about a month now, maybe. Me receiving them I mean. It looked like they'd been taking the photos for months before that."

Naomasa sat back and tried not to be angry. "For the love of-"

Nishikawa cut him off gently. "I know. It was stupid of me to hide it. I just- I don't know what I was hoping for."

They lapsed into another silence. Nishikawa with her head bowed, staring at her own hands as they hung limply from her lap. Naomasa sitting rigidly, fighting for words that would not sound too angry and hoping his emotional feedback did not read as anything overly judgemental.

When no magic, healing words dropped into his lap, he went with, "Why?"

Nishikawa actually laughed this time, the sound bordering on manic. "Did the chief ever tell you why I got transferred?"

Naomasa frowned. "Something about an undercover case gone bad."

"To put it delicately."

Nishikawa sighed, leaning back to wilt against his couch. She let her head drop back against the backrest, tilting back to stare blankly at the ceiling. Naomasa shifted into a more comfortable position, slouching to the side to rest an elbow against the armrest and angle himself toward his partner.

"About six years ago, when I was first promoted to detective, I got put on a high profile case. The details aren't all that important anymore, but the long and short of it was that there was a crime syndicate maneuvering itself into a position of power so someone had to go undercover."

Naomasa winced, already anticipating where the story was going. "And they chose you."

"My quirk gives me a 'unique advantage' undercover. Or at least, that's what we thought."

"I take it things didn't go as planned."

Nishikawa shook her head limply against the couch. "I got discovered about a month in."

Naomasa winced, and Nishikawa let her head roll gently to the side to offer him a soft smile. His gut dropped further.

"I'm guessing that wasn't the end of it."

"Nope." She turned her head back up to the ceiling. "The head of the crime syndicate went by the name of Sovereign."

Naomasa tensed at the name, clenching his fist into his slacks. Nishikawa plowed on without pause.

"He got the name for his quirk. All he needs is your name. He gets your full name, and you're his."

"His?"

"Total mind control. His orders can last up to 24-hours, and it doesn't matter what he asks you to do; you'll do it."

Naomasa winced. "Lord."

"No, Sovereign." Nishikawa chuckled weakly. "Sorry, too soon."

Naomasa shook his head. "So what happened?"

"Sovereign found out I was a mole. I don't know how he got my name but he did. He had me keep up the act with the police, while he put me to work."

"Put you to work?"

Nishikawa tilted her head back over to consider him. "Interrogation mostly."

Naomasa shivered at the implication, watching the way Nishikawa shifted to fiddle with her hands uncomfortably. Naomasa leaned over to squeeze her shoulder reassuringly. She dipped her head to avoid his eye, but the corner of her mouth quirked tightly. Naomasa leaned back again and let one arm drape over the back of the couch within easy distance.

"So what happened?"

"A couple of months in they figured out that I'd been discovered and they pulled the plug on the operation. They set up a raid on the old factory where the syndicate did most of its business. It… did not go well."

Naomasa swallowed. Nishikawa shrugged tightly, addressing the question he had not dared ask. Naomasa sat back, leaning into the armrest of the sofa as he considered the woman sitting curled on the opposite end. For the first time since All Might's arrival in the city, Naomasa considered his partner's abilities and their potential threat. And yet, watching her awaiting judgment on his couch, she had nothing but his full confidence. He saw the moment she registered his decision, the way her elbows untucked and her spine unfurled just slightly. He waited until she met his eye before offering her a reassuring nod.

"This time will be different."

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I've had to rework a lot of my original plan for this story recently, and I'm still not entirely sure I have the final outline nailed down.

Any and all feedback helps and will be immensely appreciated!


	14. Sympathy for the Devil

CHAPTER 14 - SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL

When All Might arrived at the station, it was to a general feeling of unease. Not palpable or widespread, but years of experience as a hero guided his eye to the whispered conversations behind doors left slightly ajar and the tense shoulders of senior officers walking by. For once, he was thankful for the inevitable commotion his arrival always created. Moments after stepping off the elevator, the hush that followed his arrival caught the attention of a junior detective who abandoned his work in favor of bounding over with poorly concealed enthusiasm. All Might turned to him and forced any lingering worry out of his voice.

"Officer Kurosawa."

"Mr. Might! What brings you down to the station today?"

The hero twitched at the title and coughed into his fist. "I need to see-"

"Detective Naomasa?"

"Er- yes."

"You're the boss-man."

Kurosawa marched off ahead of him. All Might was relieved to note he was making a direct line to Naomasa's office, and some of the concern from the morning ebbed. He tried not to let Nishikawa's closed office door put him on edge. He had less than a second to linger on it before his long strides took him back within range of the young detective ahead of him.

"You're in luck, actually. He's been out most of the morning. It's been a pretty wild day."

All Might perked up at the information. "Wild?"

"I don't really know the details. He and Nishikawa went to the hospital this morning and then holed themselves up in Naomasa's office as soon as they got back."

The hero felt some of the tension in his gut release, and he offered the detective a more genuine smile as they arrived at the office door. Kurosawa knocked once, a quick rap with his knuckles, and barely waited for an answer before he was twisting the knob and nudging his head in. All Might stood behind him, feeling like an intruder as he caught sight of Naomasa and Nishikawa sitting on the couch over Kurosawa's shoulder. He offered an awkward wave as he caught Naomasa's eye. Kurosawa, on the other hand, seemed perfectly at ease.

"Sorry to interrupt your pow-wow. You've got a visitor."

Kurosawa stepped away, flinging the door completely open as he went. Naomasa stood from the couch almost immediately, hurrying over to the door with a look of sheer concern that made him feel slightly guilty.

"Everything okay?"

All Might cleared his throat. "Yes, yes. I sent you a message earlier. I assume it was not received."

Naomasa cursed under his breath, hurriedly patting down his pockets as he searched for his phone. He stepped aside and ushered the other man in as he pulled it from an inner pocket and read over his messages. All Might stepped around him, pacing toward the desk as he offered the current occupant of the couch a careful smile. She seemed more worn than she had earlier that morning, and he wondered if the hospital visit had been for her. She returned his carefully guarded expression, pushing herself to her feet in a thoroughly exhausted motion. She made a vague gesture at the couch.

"I'll leave you two to it." And then, when Naomasa's head shot up in surprise. "I need to go talk to the chief anyway."

Naomasa nodded slowly. "Alright. I'll swing by your office when I'm done here."

She nodded, offering All Might one last courteous nod before she hurried out of the room. The hero caught one last glance as she crossed the bullring, shoulders drawn tight before the door closed decisively between them. Naomasa moved back toward his desk, dropping into his chair as the hero allowed himself to sink into the plush cushions of the couch. He released his muscle form, watching through the steam as Naomasa's head dropped forward the hang limply over his crossed arms.

"Long day?"

Naomasa shot him an unimpressed look over his folded hands.

"I heard there was a hospital visit. I hope everything is okay."

Naomasa waved a hand vaguely. "Yeah. Everyone's fine."And then, sitting up decisively. "What's this about the apartment?"

Yagi's stomach churned as he realized he had almost completely forgotten why he had come to the station to begin with. He took a moment to reorganize his thoughts, uncomfortably aware of how difficult it was to put them in order.

"Your partner is being targeted."

Whatever Yagi had been expecting, it was not the tired drop of Naomasa's shoulders. The detective cast a glance around the room before settling back to stare at his friend.

"Yeah… I know. Found out this morning."

Yagi sputtered. "Wh-How?"

"Someone's been following her, sending her stuff in the mail. I can't give you the details but it's related to an old case."

Feeling relieved, Yagi sunk back into the couch. "Then you know about the man at the apartment."

Naomasa straightened. "What man?"

"Apparently not…"

With a heavy sigh, Yagi leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. He relayed the events of the morning: the strange conversation in the alleyway, the moment outside his window, and further back to the time Nishikawa had stumbled out of the elevator in the middle of a full-on panic attack. Naomasa took it all in with a straight face, barely moving until Yagi finally cut himself off.

"So you think this man is… what? An accomplice?"

"Yes."

"I don't know, Yagi…"

"Why not?"

Naomasa stopped to consider the question. The idea seemed impossible; a middle-aged businessman, following his partner around for months completely undetected, unprompted. From Yagi's description, he sounded harmless enough. And yet, the longer he thought about it, the harder he struggled to piece together a coherent reason for his doubts. He frowned, straightened to stare at his friend in disturbed shock.

"I… don't know."

Yagi lurched forward at the admission. "That's my entire point! I've been wrestling with this all day. But what if, somehow, this man's quirk makes him unknowable? Undetectable? And even knowledge of him is difficult to transmit."

"How is it you know about him then?"

"I think… I think once you become aware of him, the effects are less potent. Like misdirection; if you expect it you can catch the trick of it."

Naomasa was nodding slowly. "That'll make things more difficult." And then, standing abruptly, "I need to talk to the chief about this."

Yagi had a panicked moment to consider his friend walking across the room before his mind caught up and he forced himself into his hero form. Naomasa flung the door open, stopping short when he came face to face with Nishikawa standing with one hand raised to knock. She seemed only marginally less startled than him as she stepped away to let him through. She had a handful of files clutched in her other arm.

"Chief wants to see you."

Naomasa's jaw worked for a moment before his open mouth finally formed words.

"Right, great timing. Can you- um… can you wait here with All Might? I'll be back to escort him down in a bit."

The hero tensed. "No need to trouble yourself, I can show myself out-"

He stopped abruptly when Naomasa shot him a stern look over his shoulder. All Might cleared his throat awkwardly and lowered himself back down onto the couch. Nishikawa offered her partner an exasperated look, before stepping around him and depositing the files in her arms on his desk. Naomasa offered the pair a stern 'behave' look, and marched off leaving the door slightly ajar. The pair stayed in awkward silence for a beat, Nishikawa with her hip propped against her partner's desk and All Might sitting on the couch feeling like an awkward schoolboy. Eventually, Nishikawa's stance relaxed marginally and she offered him a tight, apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry about this. I'm sure you have important places to be. He's just worried about me."

"Not at all! It's no problem."

She offered him a sad smile. "I know I've said this before, but you really don't need to worry about the whole secret-thing. I try not to use my quirk at all, really."

All Might flinched. "Of course. I did not mean to upset you before-"

Nishikawa shook her head gently. "No, I understand. My quirk gives me a lot of power over other people."

"That is hardly the most important thing. Every quirk has the capacity to harm in some way. One should not be shamed simply because of the nature of one's quirk."

Nishikawa laughed humorlessly. "You know you're the second person to say something like that to me. At least… to say it and believe it."

"Oh?"

"For a while, I believed it too. Like my quirk could be something… Something amazing."

All Might considered her for a moment. She had turned away slightly, staring out into the bullring through the slight crack in the door. She crossed her arms tightly, using the movement to shrug her shoulders against the tension slowly building there. She looked sad, and he got the distinct feeling she was no longer talking to him. Was thinking of somewhere else, someone else, lifetimes away.

"They sound like a good friend."

Nishikawa's head snapped back to look at him. She seemed startled to see him. She shook her head, eyes downcast.

"Something like that."

"I take it something happened?"

"I just… didn't like who I was with him."

They lapsed into an awkward silence for a moment, then Nishikawa shifted awkwardly. She cleared her throat, rubbing her upper arms like she was rubbing out a chill. She shook herself once.

"Sorry. Forget I said anything."

All Might scrambled for something to say, but she turned her head away just as the door swung open. Naomasa walked in carrying more files, shoulders slumped. Nishikawa leaped over, catching a handful just as they slid off the stack of files her partner was wrestling. In the next moment, the hero was being swept out of the room by an exhausted-looking detective. He bid Nishikawa a hasty farewell, following her partner out the door and trying not to notice the way she seemed to shrink into herself.

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Sorry if it seems like not much is happening in these chapters. There are some things I need to set up for future chapters, and it's difficult to get back into the pacing I had set up before. Hopefully things will start coming easier from now on!

As always, all feedback is helpful and welcome!


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